LITTLE  LORD  FAUNTLEROY 


LITTLE 
LORD  FAUNTLEROY 


BY 

FRANCES   HODGSON   BURNETT 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 
IQIO 


COPYRIGHT,  1886, 1897,  nv 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S   SONS 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FROM  DRAWINGS   BY   REGINALD    B.    BIRCH 

PAGB 

"Are  you  the    Earl?"    said    Cedric ;     "Tin  your 

grandson.    Pm  Lord  Fauntleroy"  Frontispiece 

"  So  this  is  little  Lord  Fauntleroy?    .      ' »       V      .  fj 

"  Mr.  Hobbs,"  said  Cedric,  "  an  Earl  is  sitting  on 

this  box  now  /  '•         .        .        .        «  .  21 

The  Race, .  37 

"f  used  to  think  I  might  perhaps  be  a  President,  but 

I  never  thought  of  being  an  Earl?  said  Ceddie,          41 

"  I  have  to  go  to  England  and  be  a  Lord"        .        .  jjr 

Dick  boards  the  steamer  to  bid gool-bye  to  Lord  Faunt- 

leroy,         ........          63 

Jerry  narrates  some  of  his  Adventures,      ...  74 

The  big  cat  was  purring  in  drowsy  content ;  she  liked 

the  caressing  touch  of  the  kind  little  hand,    .  fg 


viii  List  of  Illustrations 

PAGB 

The  gates  were  opened  by  a  woman  and  two  children 

who  came  out  of  a  pretty  ivy-covered  lodge,     .  89 

"Just  lean  on  me?  said  little  Lord  Fauntleroy.    "Til 

walk  very  slowly? /// 

Lord  Fauntleroy  writes  a  letter,          .        .        .        .         143 

Here  lyeth  ye  bo  dye  of  Gregory e  Arthur e  Fyrst  Earle 
of  Dorincourt  Allsoe  of  Alisone  Hildegarde  hys 
wyfe, 162 

"I've  a  great  deal  to  thank  your  Lordship  for?  said 

Higgins,  .......         167 

Wilkins  was  carrying  his  hat  for  him,  and  his  hair 

was  flying,  but  he  came  back  at  a  brisk  canter,  iff 

"  Up  the  lad  has  to  get,  and  my  Lord  trudges  along* 

side  of  him  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets ?      .         179 

The  workmen  liked  to  see  him  stand  among  them,  talk* 

ing  away,  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,          .         201 

"  I  was  thinking  how  beautiful  you  are?  said  Lord 

Fauntleroy, 213 

"  Why,  Boss  /  "  exclaimed  Dick,   «  d?ye  know  him 

yerselft" 230 

"  Shall  I  be  your  boy,  even  if  Pm  not  going  to  be  an 

Earl?"  said  Cedric j 


List  of  Illustrations  ix 


PAGE 


She  was  told  by  the  footman  at  the  door  that  the  Earl 

would  not  see  her,    .  •        •        •        •         250 

"  Are  you  quite  sure  you  want  me  f  "  said  Mrs.  Errolt        275 

"  My  grandfather  says  these  are  my  ancestors?  said 

Fauntleroy, *79 

4 

Lord  Fauntleroy  makes  a  speech  to  the  tenants,         •         287 


LITTLE  LORD  FAUNTLEROY 


CEDRIC  himself  knew  nothing  whatever  about 
it.  It  had  never  been  even  mentioned  to  him. 
He  knew  that  his  papa  had  been  an  Englishman, 
because  his  mamma  had  told  him  so ;  but  then 
his  papa  had  died  when  he  was  so  little  a  boy 
that  he  could  not  remember  very  much  about 
him,  except  that  he  was  big,  and  had  blue  eyes 
and  a  long  mustache,  and  that  it  was  a  splendid 
thing  to  be  carried  around  the  room  on  his  shoul- 
der. Since  his  papa's  death,  Cedric  had  found 
out  that  it  was  best  not  to  talk  to  his  mamma 
about  him.  When  his  father  was  ill,  Cedric  had 
been  sent  away,  and  when  he  had  returned, 
everything  was  over;  and  his  mother,  who  had 
been  very  ill,  too,  was  only  just  beginning  to  sit 
in  her  chair  by  the  window.  She  was  pale  and 
thin,  and  all  the  dimples  had  gone  from  her 
pretty  face,  and  her  eyes  looked  large  and  mourn- 
ful, and  she  was  dressed  in  black. 

"  Dearest,"  said  Cedric  (his  papa  had  called  her 


2  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

that  always,  and  so  the  little  boy  had  learned  to 
say  it), — " dearest,  is  my  papa  better?" 

He  felt  her  arms  tremble,  and  so  he  turned  his 
curly  head  and  looked  in  her  face.  There  was 
something  in  it  that  made  him  feel  that  he  was 
going  to  cry. 

"  Dearest,"  he  said,  "  is  he  well  ?  " 

Then  suddenly  his  loving  little  heart  told  him 
that  he'd  better  put  both  his  arms  around  her 
neck  and  kiss  her  again  and  again,  and  keep 
his  soft  cheek  close  to  hers ;  and  he  did  so,  and 
she  laid  her  face  on  his  shoulder  and  cried  bit- 
terly, holding  him  as  if  she  could  never  let  him 
go  again. 

"  Yes,  he  is  well,"  she  sobbed ;  "  he  is  quite, 
quite  well,  but  we — we  have  no  one  left  but  *ach 
other.  No  one  at  all." 

Then,  little  as  he  was,  he  understood  that  his 
big,  handsome  young  papa  would  not  come  back 
any  more ;  that  he  was  dead,  as  he  had  heard  of 
other  people  being,  although  he  could  not  com- 
prehend  exactly  what  strange  thing  had  brought 
all  this  sadness  about.  It  was  because  his 
mamma  always  cried  when  he  spoke  of  his  papa 
that  he  secretly  made  up  his  mind  it  was  better 
not  to  speak  of  him  very  often  to  her,  and  he 
found  out,  too,  that  it  was  better  not  to  let  her 
sit  still  and  look  into  the  fire  or  out  of  the  win- 
dow without  moving  or  talking.  He  and  his 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  3 

mamma  knew  very  few  people,  and  lived  what 
might  have  been  thought  very  lonely  lives,  al- 
though Cedric  did  not  know  it  was  lonely  until 
he  grew  older  and  heard  why  it  was  they  had  no 
visitors.  Then  he  was  told  that  his  mamma  was 
an  orphan,  and  quite  alone  in  the  world  when  his 
papa  had  married  her.  She  was  very  pretty, 
and  had  been  living  as  companion  to  a  rich  old 
lady  who  was  not  kind  to  her,  and  one  day  Cap- 
tain Cedric  Errol,  who  was  calling  at  the  house, 
saw  her  run  up  the  stairs  with  tears  on  her  eye- 
lashes ;  and  she  looked  so  sweet  and  innocent  and 
sorrowful  that  the  Captain  could  not  forget  her. 
And  after  many  strange  things  had  happened, 
they  knew  each  other  well  and  loved  each  other 
dearly,  and  were  married,  although  their  mar- 
riage brought  them  the  ill-will  of  several  persons. 
The  one  who  was  most  angry  of  all,  however, 
was  the  Captain's  father,  who  lived  in  England, 
and  was  a  very  rich  and  important  old  nobleman, 
with  a  very  bad  temper  and  a  very  violent  dislike 
to  America  and  Americans.  He  had  two  sons 
older  than  Captain  Cedric;  and  it  was  the  law 
that  the  elder  of  these  sons  should  inherit  the 
family  title  and  estates,  which  were  very  rich  and 
splendid;  if  the  eldest  son  died,  the  next  one 
would  be  heir ;  so,  though  he  was  a  member  of 
such  a  great  family,  there  was  little  chance  that 
Captain  Cedric  would  be  very  rich  himself. 


4  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

But  it  so  happened  that  Nature  had  given  to 
the  youngest  son  gifts  which  she  had  not  be- 
stowed upon  his  elder  brothers.  He  had  a  beau- 
tiful face  and  a  fine,  strong,  graceful  figure ;  he 
had  a  bright  smile  and  a  sweet,  gay  voice ;  he 
was  brave  and  generous,  and  had  the  kindest 
heart  in  the  world,  and  seemed  to  have  the  power 
to  make  every  one  love  him.  And  it  was  not  so 
with  his  elder  brothers ;  neither  of  them  was 
handsome,  or  very  kind,  or  clever.  When  they 
were  boys  at  Eton,  they  were  not  popular ;  when 
they  were  at  college,  they  cared  nothing  for 
study,  and  wasted  both  time  and  money,  and 
made  few  real  friends.  The  old  Earl,  their  father, 
was  constantly  disappointed  and  humiliated  by 
them ;  his  heir  was  no  honor  to  his  noble  name, 
and  did  not  promise  to  end  in  being  anything  but 
a  selfish,  wasteful,  insignificant  man,  with  no 
manly  or  noble  qualities.  It  was  very  bitter,  the 
old  Earl  thought,  that  the  son  who  was  only 
third,  and  would  have  only  a  very  small  fortune, 
should  be  the  one  who  had  all  the  erifts,  and  all 
the  charms,  and  all  the  strength  and  beauty. 
Sometimes  he  almost  hated  the  handsome  young 
man  because  he  seemed  to  have  the  good  things 
which  should  have  gone  with  the  stately  title  and 
the  magnificent  estates  ;  and  yet,  in  the  depths  of 
his  proud,  stubborn  old  heart,  he  could  not  help 
caring  very  much  for  his  voungest  son.  It  was 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  5 

In  one  of  his  fits  of  petulance  that  he  sent  him  off 
to  travel  in  America ;  he  thought  he  would  send 
him  away  for  a  while,  so  that  he  should  not  be 
made  angry  by  constantly  contrasting  him  with 
his  brothers,  who  were  at  that  time  giving  him  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  by  their  wild  ways. 

But,  after  about  six  months,  he  began  to  feel 
lonely,  and  longed  in  secret  to  see  his  son  again, 
so  he  wrote  to  Captain  Cedric  and  ordered  him 
home.  The  letter  he  wrote  crossed  on  its  way  a 
letter  the  Captain  had  just  written  to  his  father, 
telling  of  his  love  for  the  pretty  American  girl, 
and  of  his  intended  marriage ;  and  when  the 
Earl  received  that  letter  he  was  furiously  angry. 
Bad  as  his  temper  was,  he  had  never  given  way 
to  it  in  his  life  as  he  gave  way  to  it  when  he  read 
the  Captain's  letter.  His  valet,  who  was  in  the 
room  when  it  came,  thought  his  lordship  would 
have  a  fit  of  apoplexy,  he  was  so  wild  with  anger. 
For  an  hour  he  raged  like  a  tiger,  and  then  he  sat 
down  and  wrote  to  his  son,  and  ordered  him 
never  to  come  near  his  old  home,  nor  to  write  to 
his  father  or  brothers  again.  He  told  him  he 
might  live  as  he  pleased,  and  die  where  he 
pleased,  that  he  should  be  cut  off  from  his  family 
forever,  and  that  he  need  never  expect  help  from 
his  father  as  long  as  he  lived. 

The  Captain  was  very  sad  when  he  read  the 
letter;  be  was  very  fond  of  England,  and  he 


6  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

dearly  loved  the  beautiful  home  where  he  had 
been  born;  he  had  even  loved  his  ill-tempered 
old  father,  and  had  sympathized  with  him  in  his 
disappointments  ;  but  he  knew  he  need  expect  no 
kindness  from  him  in  the  future.  At  first  he 
scarcely  knew  what  to  do;  he  had  not  been 
brought  up  to  work,  and  had  no  business  experi- 
ence, but  he  had  courage  and  plenty  of  determi- 
nation. So  he  sold  his  commission  in  the  English 
army,  and  after  some  trouble  found  a  situation 
in  New  York,  and  married.  The  change  from 
his  old  life  in  England  was  very  great,  but  he 
was  young  and  happy,  and  he  hoped  that  hard 
work  would  do  great  things  for  him  in  the  fut- 
ure. He  had  a  small  house  on  a  quiet  street, 
and  his  little  boy  was  born  there,  and  everything 
was  so  gay  and  cheerful,  in  a  simple  way,  that  he 
was  never  sorry  for  a  moment  that  he  had 
married  the  rich  old  lady's  pretty  companion  just 
because  she  was  so  sweet  and  he  loved  her  and 
she  loved  him.  She  was  very  sweet,  indeed,  and 
her  little  boy  was  like  both  her  and  his  father. 
Though  he  was  born  in  so  quiet  and  cheap  a 
little  home,  it  seemed  as  if  there  never  had  been  a 
more  fortunate  baby.  In  the  first  place,  he  was  al- 
ways well,  and  so  he  never  gave  any  one  trouble ; 
in  the  second  place,  he  had  so  sweet  a  tem- 
per and  ways  so  charming  that  he  was  a  pleasure 
to  every  one ;  and  in  the  third  place,  he  was  so 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  J 

beautiful  to  look  at  that  he  was  quite  a  picture. 
Instead  of  being  a  bald-headed  baby,  he  started 
in  life  with  a  quantity  of  soft,  fine,  gold-colored 
hair,  which  curled  up  at  the  ends,  and  went  into 
loose  rings  by  the  time  he  was  six  months  old ; 
he  had  big  brown  eyes  and  long  eyelashes  and  a 
darling  little  face ;  he  had  so  strong  a  back  and 
such  splendid  sturdy  legs,  that  at  nine  months  he 
learned  suddenly  to  walk ;  his  manners  were  so 
good,  for  a  baby,  that  it  was  delightful  to  make 
his  acquaintance.  He  seemed  to  feel  that  every 
one  was  his  friend,  and  when  any  one  spoke  to 
him,  when  he  was  in  his  carriage  in  the  street,  he 
would  give  the  stranger  one  sweet,  serious  look 
with  the  brown  eyes,  and  then  follow  it  with  a 
lovely,  friendly  smile ;  and  the  consequence  was, 
that  there  was  not  a  person  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  quiet  street  where  he  lived  —  even  to  the 
groceryman  at  the  corner,  who  was  considered 
the  Grossest  creature  alive — who  was  not  pleased 
to  see  him  and  speak  to  him.  And  every  month  of 
his  life  he  grew  handsomer  and  more  interesting. 
When  he  was  old  enough  to  walk  out  with  his 
nurse,  dragging  a  small  wagon  and  wearing  a 
short  white  kilt  skirt,  and  a  big  white  hat  set 
back  on  his  curly  yellow  hair,  he  was  so  hand- 
some and  strong  and  rosy  that  he  attracted  every 
one's  attention,  and  his  nurse  would  come  home 
and  tell  his  mamma  stories  of  the  ladies  who  had 


8  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

stopped  their  carriages  to  look  at  and  speak  to 
him,  and  of  how  pleased  they  were  when  he  talked 
to  them  in  his  cheerful  little  way,  as  if  he  had 
known  them  always.  His  greatest  charm  was 
this  cheerful,  fearless,  quaint  little  way  of  making 
friends  with  people.  I  think  it  arose  from  his 
having  a  very  confiding  nature,  and  a  kind  little 
heart  that  sympathized  with  every  one,  and 
wished  to  make  every  one  as  comfortable  as  he 
liked  to  be  himself.  It  made  him  very  quick  to 
anderstand  the  feelings  of  those  about  him.  Per- 
haps  this  had  grown  on  him,  too,  because  he  had 
lived  so  much  with  his  father  and  mother,  who 
were  always  loving  and  considerate  and  tender 
and  well-bred.  He  had  never  heard  an  unkind 
or  uncourteous  word  spoken  at  home ;  he  had  al- 
ways been  loved  and  caressed  and  treated  tender- 
ly, and  so  his  childish  soul  was  full  of  kindness 
and  innocent  warm  feeling.  He  had  always  heard 
his  mamma  called  by  pretty,  loving  names,  and 
so  he  used  them  himself  when  he  spoke  to  her; 
he  had  always  seen  that  his  papa  watched  over 
her  and  took  great  care  of  her,  and  so  he  learned, 
too,  to  be  careful  of  her. 

So  when  he  knew  his  papa  would  come  back 
no  more,  and  saw  how  very  sad  his  mamma  was 
there  gradually  came  into  his  kind  little  heart  the 
thought  that  he  must  do  what  he  could  to  make 
her  happy.     He  was  not  much  more  than  a  baby, 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  9 

but  that  thought  was  in  his  mind  whenever  he 
climbed  upon  her  knee  and  kissed  her  and  put 
his  curly  head  on  her  neck,  and  when  he  brought 
his  toys  and  picture-books  to  show  her,  and  when 
he  curled  up  quietly  by  her  side  as  she  used  to 
lie  on  the  sofa.  He  was  not  old  enough  to  know 
of  anything  else  to  do,  so  he  did  what  he  could, 
and  was  more  of  a  comfort  to  her  than  he  could 
have  understood. 

"  Oh,  Mary !  "  he  heard  her  say  once  to  her 
old  servant ;  "  I  am  sure  he  is  trying  to  help  me 
in  his  innocent  way — I  know  he  is.  He  looks  at 
me  sometimes  with  a  loving,  wondering  little 
look,  as  if  he  were  sorry  for  me,  and  then  he  will 
come  and  pet  me  or  show  me  something.  He  is 
such  a  little  man,  I  really  think  he  knows." 

As  he  grew  older,  he  had  a  great  many  quaint 
little  ways  which  amused  and  interested  people 
greatly.  He  was  so  much  of  a  companion  for  his 
mother  that  she  scarcely  cared  for  any  other. 
They  used  to  walk  together  and  talk  together  and 
play  together.  When  he  was  quite  a  little  fellow, 
he  learned  to  read ;  and  after  that  he  used  to  lie 
on  the  hearth-rug,  in  the  evening,  and  read  aloud 
— sometimes  stories,  and  sometimes  big  books 
such  as  older  people  read,  and  sometimes  even 
the  newspaper ;  and  often  at  such  times  Mary,  in 
the  kitchen,  would  hear  Mrs.  Errol  laughing  with 
delight  at  the  quaint  things  he  said. 


io  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"  And,  indade,"  said  Mary  to  the  groceryman, 
"  nobody  cud  help  laughin'  at  the  quare  little 
ways  of  him  —  and  his  ould- fashioned  sayin's! 
Didn't  he  come  into  my  kitchen  the  noight  the 
new  Prisident  was  nominated  and  shtand  afore 
the  fire,  lookin'  loike  a  pictur',  wid  his  hands  in 
his  shmall  pockets,  an*  his  innocent  bit  of  a  face 
as  sayrious  as  a  jedge  ?  An*  sez  he  to  me : 
*  Mary/  sez  he,  '  I'm  very  much  int' rusted  in  the 
'lection,'  sez  he.  '  I'm  a  'publican,  an*  so  is  Dear- 
est. Are  you  a  'publican,  Mary  ?  '  *  Sorra  a  bit,' 
sez  I;  'I'm  the  bist  o'  dimmycrats!'  An'  he 
looks  up  at  me  wid  a  look  that  ud  go  to  yer 
heart,  an'  sez  he :  '  Mary,'  sez  he, '  die  country 
will  go  to  ruin.'  An*  nivver  a  day  since  thin  has 
he  let  go  by  widout  argyin'  wid  me  to  change 
me  polytics." 

Mary  was  very  fond  of  him,  and  very  proud  of 
him,  too.  She  had  been  with  his  mother  ever 
since  he  was  born ;  and,  after  his  father's  death, 
had  been  cook  and  housemaid  and  nurse  and 
everything  else.  She  was  proud  of  his  graceful, 
strong  little  body  and  his  pretty  manners,  and  es- 
pecially proud  of  the  bright  curly  hair  which 
waved  over  his  forehead  and  fell  in  charming 
love-locks  on  his  shoulders.  She  was  willing  to 
work  early  and  late  to  help  his  mamma  make  his 
small  suits  and  keep  them  in  order. 

"  'Ristycratic,  is  it  ?  "  she  would  say.    "  Faith, 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  n 

an*  Td  loike  to  see  the  choild  on  Fifth  Avey-«0* 
as  looks  loike  him  an*  shteps  out  as  handsome  as 
himself.  An*  ivvery  man,  woman,  and  choild 
lookin'  afther  him  in  his  bit  of  a  black  velvet 
skirt  made  out  of  the  misthress's  ould  gownd ; 
an*  his  little  head  up,  an*  his  curly  hair  flyin'  an* 
shinin*.  It's  loike  a  young  lord  he  looks." 

Cedric  did  not  know  that  he  looked  like  a 
young  lord ;  he  did  not  know  what  a  lord  was. 
His  greatest  friend  was  the  groceryman  at  the 
corner — the  cross  groceryman,  who  was  never 
cross  to  him.  His  name  was  Mr.  Hobbs,  and 
Cedric  admired  and  respected  him  very  much. 
He  thought  him  a  very  rich  and  powerful  per- 
son, he  had  so  many  things  in  his  store, — prunes 
and  figs  and  oranges  and  biscuits, — and  he  had  a 
horse  and  wagon.  Cedric  was  fond  of  the  milk- 
man and  the  baker  and  the  apple-woman,  but  he 
liked  Mr.  Hobbs  best  of  all,  and  was  on  terms  of 
such  intimacy  with  him  that  he  went  to  see  him 
every  day,  and  often  sat  with  him  quite  a  long 
time,  discussing  the  topics  of  the  hour.  It  was 
quite  surprising  how  many  things  they  found  to 
talk  about  —  the  Fourth  of  July,  for  instance. 
When  they  began  to  talk  about  the  Fourth  of 
July  there  really  seemed  no  end  to  it.  Mr.  Hobbs 
had  a  very  bad  opinion  of  "  the  British/'  and  he 
told  the  whole  story  of  the  Revolution,  relating 
very  wonderful  and  patriotic  stories  about  the 


12  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

villainy  of  the  enemy  and  the  bravery  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary heroes,  and  he  even  generously  re- 
peated part  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Cedric  was  so  excited  that  his  eyes  shone 
and  his  cheeks  were  red  and  his  curls  were 
all  rubbed  and  tumbled  into  a  yellow  mop. 
He  could  hardly  wait  to  eat  his  dinner  after  he 
went  home,  he  was  so  anxious  to  tell  his  mamma. 
It  was,  perhaps,  Mr.  Hobbs  who  gave  him  his  first 
interest  in  politics.  Mr.  Hobbs  was  fond  of  read- 
ing the  newspapers,  and  so  Cedric  heard  a  great 
deal  about  what  was  going  on  in  Washington ; 
and  Mr.  Hobbs  would  tell  him  whether  the  Presi- 
dent was  doing  his  duty  or  not.  And  once,  when 
there  was  an  election,  he  found  it  all  quite  grand, 
and  probably  but  for  Mr.  Hobbs  and  Cedric  the 
country  might  have  been  wrecked.  Mr.  Hobbs 
took  him  to  see  a  great  torchlight  procession,  and 
many  of  the  men  who  carried  torches  remem- 
bered afterward  a  stout  man  who  stood  near  : 
lamp-post  and  held  on  his  shoulder  a  handsom< 
little  shouting  boy,  who  waved  his  cap  in  the  air. 
It  was  not  long  after  this  election,  when  Cedric 
was  between  seven  and  eight  years  old,  that  the 
very  strange  thing  happened  which  made  so  won- 
derful  a  change  in  his  life.  It  was  quite  curious, 
too,  that  the  day  it  happened  he  had  been  talking 
to  Mr.  Hobbs  about  England  and  the  Queen,  and 
Mr.  Hobbs  had  said  some  very  severe  things  about 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  13 

the  aristocracy,  being  specially  indignant  against 
earls  and  marquises.  It  had  been  a  hot  morning: 
and  after  playing  soldiers  with  some  friends  of 
his,  Cedric  had  gone  into  the  store  to  rest,  and 
had  found  Mr.  Hobbs  looking  very  fierce  over  a 
piece  of  the  Illustrated  London  News,  which  con- 
tained a  picture  of  some  court  ceremony. 

"  Ah,"  he  said,  "  that's  the  way  they  go  on  now ; 
but  they'll  get  enough  of  it  some  day,  when  those 
they've  trod  on  rise  and  blow  'em  up  sky-high, — 
earls  and  marquises  and  all !  It's  coming,  and 
they  may  look  out  for  it!  " 

Cedric  had  perched  himself  as  usual  on  the 
high  stool  and  pushed  his  hat  back,  and  put  his 
hands  in  his  pockets  in  delicate  compliment  to 
Mr.  Hobbs. 

"  Did  you  ever  know  many  marquises,  Mr. 
Hobbs  ?  "  Cedric  inquired, — "  or  earls  ?  " 

"  No,"  answered  Mr.  Hobbs,  with  indignation  ; 
"  I  guess  not.  I'd  like  to  catch  one  of  'em  inside 
here;  that's  all !  I'll  have  no  grasping  tyrants 
sittin'  'round  on  my  cracker-barrels  !  " 

And  he  was  so  proud  of  the  sentiment  that 
he  looked  around  proudly  and  mopped  his  fore- 
head. 

"  Perhaps  they  wouldn't  be  earls  if  they  knew 
any  better,"  said  Cedric,  feeling  some  vague  sym- 
pathy for  their  unhappy  condition. 

"  Wouldn't  they  1 "  said   Mr.  Hobbs.     "  They 


14  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

just  glory  in  it!  It's  in  'em.  They're  a  bad 
tot." 

They  were  in  the  midst  of  their  conversation, 
when  Mary  appeared.  Cedric  thought  she  had 
come  to  buy  some  sugar,  perhaps,  but  she  had 
not.  She  looked  almost  pale  and  as  if  she  were 
excited  about  something. 

"  Come  home,  darlint,"  she  said ;  "  the  mis- 
thress  is  wantin'  yez." 

Cedric  slipped  down  from  his  stool. 

"  Does  she  want  me  to  go  out  with  her,  Mary  ?  " 
he  asked.  "  Good-morning,  Mr.  Hobbs.  I'll  see 
you  again." 

He  was  surprised  to  see  Mary  staring  at  him  in 
a  dumfounded  fashion,  and  he  wondered  why  she 
kept  shaking  her  head. 

"  What's  the  matter,  Mary  ?  "  he  said.  "  Is  it 
the  hot  weather  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Mary  ;  "  but  there's  strange  things 
happenin*  to  us." 

"  Has  the  sun  given  Dearest  a  headache  ?  "  he 
inquired  anxiously. 

But  it  was  not  that.  When  he  reached  his  own 
house  there  was  a  coupe  standing  before  the  door, 
and  some  one  was  in  the  little  parlor  talking  to 
his  mamma.  Mary  hurried  him  upstairs  and  put 
on  his  best  summer  suit  of  cream-colored  flannel, 
with  the  red  scarf  around  his  waist,  and  combed 
out  his  curly  locks. 


2+ittle  Lord  Fauntlerov  15 


"SO  THIS  IS  LITTLE  LORD  FAUNTLEROY." 

"  Lords,  is  it?"  he  heard  her  say.  "An*  the 
nobility  an*  gintry.  Och!  bad  cess  to  them! 
Lords,  indade — worse  luck." 

It  was  really  very  puzzling,  but  he  felt  sure  his 
mamma  would  tell  him  what  all  the  excitement 
meant,  so  he  allowed  Mary  to  bemoan  herseLf 


1 6  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

without  asking  many  questions.  When  he  was 
dressed,  he  ran  downstairs  and  went  into  the  par- 
lor. A  tall,  thin  old  gentleman  with  a  sharp  face 
Was  sitting  in  an  arm-chair.  His  mother  was 
standing  near  by  with  a  pale  face,  and  he  saw  that 
there  were  tears  in  her  eyes. 

•"  Oh  !  Ceddie  !  "  she  cried  out,  and  ran  to  her 
;;littie  boy  and  caught  him  in  her  arms  and  kissed 
him  in  a  frightened,  troubled  way.  "  Oh !  Ceddie, 
darling ! " 

The  tall  old  gentleman  rose  from  his  chair  and 
looked  at  Cedric  with  his  sharp  eyes.  He  rubbed 
his  thin  chin  with  his  bony  hand  as  he  looked. 

He  seemed  not  at  all  displeased. 

"  And  so,"  he  said  at  last,  slowly, — "  and  so  this 
iis  little  Lord  Fauntleroy." 


II 

THERE  was  never  a  more  amazed  little  boy 
than  Cedric  during  the  week  that  followed ;  there 
was  never  so  strange  or  so  unreal  a  week.  In 
the  first  place,  the  story  his  mamma  told  him 
was  a  very  curious  one.  He  was  obliged  to  hear 
it  two  or  three  times  before  he  could  understand 
it.  He  could  not  imagine  what  Mr.  Hobbs  would 
think  of  it.  It  began  with  earls  :  his  grandpapa, 
whom  he  had  never  seen,  was  an  earl ;  and  his 
eldest  uncle,  if  he  had  not  been  killed  by  a  fall 
from  his  horse,  would  have  been  an  earl,  too,  in 
time ;  and  after  his  death,  his  other  uncle  would 
have  been  an  earl,  if  he  had  not  died  suddenly,  in 
Rome,  of  a  fever.  After  that,  his  own  papa,  if  he 
had  lived,  would  have  been  an  earl;  but,  since 
they  all  had  died  and  only  Cedric  was  left,  it  ap- 
peared that  he  was  to  be  an  earl  after  his  grand- 
papa's death — and  for  the  present  he  was  Lord 
Fauntleroy. 

He  turned  quite  pale  when  he  was  first  told 
of  it. 

"  Oh  !  Dearest !  "  he  said,  "  I  should  rather  not 


1 8  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

be  an  earl.  None  of  the  boys  are  earls.  Can't  I 
not  be  one  ?  " 

But  it  seemed  to  be  unavoidable.  And  when, 
that  evening,  they  sat  together  by  the  open  win- 
dow looking  out  into  the  shabby  street,  he  and 
his  mother  had  a  long  talk  about  it.  Cedric  sat 
on  his  footstool,  clasping  one  knee  in  his  favorite 
attitude  and  wearing  a  bewildered  little  face 
rather  red  from  the  exertion  of  thinking.  His 
grandfather  had  sent  for  him  to  come  to  England, 
and  his  mamma  thought  he  must  go. 

"  Because,"  she  said,  looking  out  of  the  window 
with  sorrowful  eyes,  "  I  know  your  papa  would 
wish  it  to  be  so,  Ceddie.  He  loved  his  home  very 
much  ;  and  there  are  many  things  to  be  thought 
of  that  a  little  boy  can't  quite  understand.  I 
should  be  a  selfish  little  mother  if  I  did  not 
send  you.  When  you  are  a  man,  you  will  see 
why." 

Ceddie  shook  his  head  mournfully. 

"  I  shall  be  very  sorry  to  leave  Mr.  Hobbs,"  he 
said.  "  I'm  afraid  he'll  miss  me,  and  I  shall  miss 
him.  And  I  shall  miss  them  all." 

When  Mr.  Havisham  —  who  was  the  fanrily 
lawyer  of  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt,  and  who  had 
been  sent  by  him  to  bring  Lord  Fauntleroy  to 
England — came  the  next  day,  Cedric  heard  many 
things.  But,  somehow,  it  did  not  console  him  to 
hear  that  he  was  to  be  a  very  rich  man  when  he 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  19 

grew  up,  and  that  he  would  have  castles  here  and 
castles  there,  and  great  parks  and  deep  mines  and 
grand  estates  and  tenantry.  He  was  troubled 
about  his  friend,  Mr.  Hobbs,  and  he  went  to  see 
him  at  the  store  soon  after  breakfast,  in  great 
anxiety  of  mind. 

He  found  him  reading  the  morning  paper,  and 
he  approached  him  with  a  grave  demeanor.  He 
really  felt  it  would  be  a  great  shock  to  Mr.  Hobbs 
to  hear  what  had  befallen  him,  and  on  his  way  to 
the  store  he  had  been  thinking  how  it  would  be 
best  to  break  the  news. 

"  Hello !  "  said  Mr.  Hobbs.    "  Mornin' ! " 

"  Good-morning,"  said  Cedric. 

He  did  not  climb  up  on  the  high  stool  as  usual, 
but  sat  down  on  a  cracker-box  and  clasped  his 
knee,  and  was  so  silent  for  a  few  moments  that 
Mr.  Hobbs  finally  looked  up  inquiringly  over  the 
top  of  his  newspaper. 

"  Hello  !  y'  he  said  again. 

Cedric  gathered  all  his  strength  of  mind  to- 
gether. 

"  Mr.  Hobbs,"  he  said,  "  do  you  remember  what 
we  were  talking  about  yesterday  morning  ?  " 

"  Well,"  replied  Mr.  Hobbs, — "  seems  to  me  it 
was  England." 

"  Yes/'  said  Cedric ;  "  but  just  when  Mary  came 
for  me,  you  know?" 

Mr.  Hobbs  rubbed  the  back  of  his  head. 


2O  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"  We  was  mentioning  Queen  Victoria  and  the 
aristocracy." 

"  Yes,"  said  Cedric,  rather  hesitatingly,  "  and — 
and  earls ;  don't  you  know  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes,"  returned  Mr.  Hobbs ;  "  we  did 
touch  'em  up  a  little ;  that's  so !  " 

Cedric  flushed  up  to  the  curly  bang  on  his  fore- 
head. Nothing  so  embarrassing  as  this  had  ever 
happened  to  him  in  his  life.  He  was  a  little  afraid 
that  it  might  be  a  trifle  embarrassing  to  Mr. 
Hobbs,  too. 

"  You  said,"  he  proceeded,  "  that  you  wouldn't 
have  them  sitting  'round  on  your  cracker-barrels." 

"So  I  did!"  returned  Mr.  Hobbs,  stoutly. 
"  And  I  meant  it.  Let  'em  try  it— that's  all !  " 

"  Mr.  Hobbs,"  said  Cedric,  "  one  is  sitting  on 
this  box  now ! " 

Mr.  Hobbs  almost  jumped  out  of  his  chair. 

"  What ! "  he  exclaimed. 

"Yes,"  Cedric  announced,  with  due  modesty; 
"  /  am  one — or  I  am  going  to  be.  I  won't  deceive 
you." 

Mr.  Hobbs  looked  agitated.  He  rose  up  sud- 
denly and  went  to  look  at  the  thermometer. 

"The  mercury's  got  into  your  head!"  he  ex- 
claimed, turning  back  to  examine  his  young 
friend's  countenance.  "  It  is  a  hot  day !  How  do 
you  feel?  Got  any  pain?  When  did  you  begin 
to  feel  that  way  ?  " 


'  MR.  HOBBS,'  SAID  CEDRIC,  '  AN  EARL  IS  SITTING  ON  THIS  BOX  NOW  !  " 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  23 

He  put  his  big  hand  on  the  little  boy's  hair. 
This  was  more  embarrassing  than  ever. 

"Thank  you,"  said  Ceddie ;  "I'm  all  right. 
There  is  nothing  the  matter  with  my  head.  I'm 
sorry  to  say  it's  true,  Mr.  Hobbs.  That  was  what 
Mary  came  to  take  me  home  for.  Mr.  Havisham 
was  telling  my  mamma,  and  he  is  a  lawyer." 

Mr.  Hobbs  sank  into  his  chair  and  mopped  his 
forehead  with  his  handkerchief. 

"  One  of  us  has  got  a  sunstroke !  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  No,"  returned  Cedric,  "  we  haven't.  We  shall 
have  to  make  the  best  of  it,  Mr.  Hobbs.  Mr. 
Havisham  came  all  the  way  from  England  to  tell 
us  about  it.  My  grandpapa  sent  him." 

Mr.  Hobbs  stared  wildly  at  the  innocent,  seri- 
ous little  face  before  him. 

"  Who  is  your  grandfather?  "  he  asked. 

Cedric  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and  carefully 
drew  out  a  piece  of  paper,  on  which  something 
was  written  in  his  own  round,  irregular  hand. 

"  I  couldn't  easily  remember  it,  so  I  wrote  it 
down  on  this,"  he  said.  And  he  read  aloud  slowly : 
"'John  Arthur  Molyneux  Errol,  Earl  of  Dorin- 
court/  That  is  his  name,  and  he  lives  in  a  castle 
— in  two  or  three  castles,  I  think.  And  my  papa, 
who  died,  was  his  youngest  son ;  and  I  shouldn't 
have  been  a  lord  or  an  earl  if  my  papa  hadn't 
died  ;  and  my  papa  wouldn't  have  been  an  earl  if 
his  two  brothers  hadn't  died.  But  they  all  died. 


24  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

and  there  is  no  one  but  me, — no  boy, — and  so  1 
have  to  be  one ;  and  my  grandpapa  has  sent  for 
me  to  come  to  England." 

Mr.  Hobbs  seemed  to  grow  hotter  and  hotter. 
He  mopped  his  forehead  and  his  bald  spot  and 
breathed  hard.  He  began  to  see  that  something 
very  remarkable  had  happened ;  but  when  he 
looked  at  the  little  boy  sitting  on  the  cracker-box, 
with  the  innocent,  anxious  expression  in  his  child- 
ish eyes,  and  saw  that  he  was  not  changed  at  all, 
but  was  simply  as  he  had  been  the  day  before, 
just  a  handsome,  cheerful,  brave  little  fellow  in  a 
blue  suit  and  red  neck-ribbon,  all  this  information 
about  the  nobility  bewildered  him.  He  was  all 
the  more  bewildered  because  Cedric  gave  it  with 
such  ingenuous  simplicity,  and  plainly  without 
realizing  himself  how  stupendous  it  was. 

"Wha — what  did  you  say  your  name  was?" 
Mr.  Hobbs  inquired. 

"  It's  Cedric  Errol,  Lord  Fauntleroy,"  answered 
Cedric.  "  That  was  what  Mr.  Havisham  called 
me.  He  said  when  I  went  into  the  room:  'And 
so  this  is  little  Lord  Fauntleroy ! '  " 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Hobbs,  "  I'll  be— jiggered !" 

This  was  an  exclamation  he  always  used  when 
he  was  very  much  astonished  or  excited.  He 
could  think  of  nothing  else  to  say  just  at  that 
puzzling  moment. 

Cedric  felt  it  to  be  quite  a  proper  and  suitable 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  25 

ejaculation.  His  respect  and  affection  for  Mr. 
Hobbs  were  so  great  that  he  admired  and  ap- 
proved of  all  his  remarks.  He  had  not  seen 
enough  of  society  as  yet  to  make  him  realize  that 
sometimes  Mr.  Hobbs  was  not  quite  conventional. 
He  knew,  of  course,  that  he  was  different  from 
his  mamma,  but,  then,  his  mamma  was  a  lady,  and 
he  had  an  idea  that  ladies  were  always  different 
from  gentlemen. 

He  looked  at  Mr.  Hobbs  wistfully. 

"  England  is  a  long  way  off,  isn't  it  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  It's  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean,"  Mr.  Hobbs 
answered. 

"That's  the  worst  of  it,"  said  Cedric.  "Per. 
haps  I  shall  not  see  you  again  for  a  long  time.  I 
don't  like  to  think  of  that,  Mr.  Hobbs." 

"The  best  of  friends  must  part,"  said  Mr. 
Hobbs. 

"  Well,"  said  Cedric,  "  we  have  been  friends  for 
a  great  many  years,  haven't  we  ?  " 

"  Ever  since  you  was  born,"  Mr.  Hobbs  an- 
swered.  "  You  was  about  six  weeks  old  when 
you  was  first  walked  out  on  this  street." 

"  Ah,"  remarked  Cedric,  with  a  sigh,  "  I  never 
thought  I  should  have  to  be  an  earl  then ! " 

"  You  think,"  said  Mr.  Hobbs,  "  there's  no  get- 
ting out  of  it?" 

"  I'm  afraid  not,"  answered  Cedric.  "  My  mam- 
ma  says  that  my  papa  would  wish  me  to  do  it 


26  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

But  if  I  have  to  be  an  earl,  there's  one  thing  I  can 
do:  I  can  try  to  be  a  good  one.  I'm  not  going  to 
be  a  tyrant.  And  if  there  is  ever  to  be  another 
war  with  America,  I  shall  try  to  stop  it." 

His  conversation  with  Mr.  Hobbs  was  a  long 
and  serious  one.  Once  having  got  over  the  first 
shock,  Mr.  Hobbs  was  not  so  rancorous  as  might 
have  been  expected ;  he  endeavored  to  resign 
himself  to  the  situation,  and  before  the  interview 
was  at  an  end  he  had  asked  a  great  many  ques- 
tions. As  Cedric  could  answer  but  few  of  them, 
he  endeavored  to  answer  them  himself,  and,  be- 
ing  fairly  launched  on  the  subject  of  earls  and 
marquises  and  lordly  estates,  explained  many 
things  in  a  way  which  would  probably  have  aston- 
ished Mr.  Havisham,  could  that  gentleman  have 
heard  it. 

But  then  there  were  many  things  which  as- 
tonished Mr.  Havisham.  He  had  spent  all  his  life 
in  England,  and  was  not  accustomed  to  American 
people  and  American  habits.  He  had  been  con- 
nected professionally  with  the  family  of  the  Earl 
of  Dorincourt  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  he  knew 
all  about  its  grand  estates  and  its  great  wealth 
and  importance ;  and,  in  a  cold,  business-like  way, 
he  felt  an  interest  in  this  little  boy,  who,  in  the 
future,  was  to  be  the  master  and  owner  of  them 
all,  —  the  future  Earl  of  Dorincourt.  He  had 
Known  all  about  the  old  Earl's  disappointment  in 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  27 

his  elder  sons  and  all  about  his  fierce  rage  at  Cap- 
tain Cedric's  American  marriage,  and  he  knew 
how  he  still  hated  the  gentle  little  widow  and 
would  not  speak  of  her  except  with  bitter  and 
cruel  words.  He  insisted  that  she  was  only  a 
common  American  girl,  who  had  entrapped  his 
son  into  marrying  her  because  she  knew  he  was 
an  earl's  son.  The  old  lawyer  himself  had  more 
than  half  believed  this  was  all  true.  He  had  seen 
a  great  many  selfish,  mercenary  people  in  his  life, 
and  he  had  not  a  good  opinion  of  Americans. 
When  he  had  been  driven  into  the  cheap  street, 
and  his  coup£  had  stopped  before  the  cheap,  small 
house,  he  had  felt  actually  shocked.  It  seemed 
really  quite  dreadful  to  think  that  the  future 
owner  of  Dorincourt  Castle  and  Wyndham  Tow- 
ers and  Chorlworth,  and  all  the  other  stately 
splendors,  should  have  been  born  and  brought  up 
in  an  insignificant  house  in  a  street  with  a  sort  of 
green-grocery  at  the  corner.  He  wondered  what 
kind  of  a  child  he  would  be,  and  what  kind  of  a 
mother  he  had.  He  rather  shrank  from  seeing 
them  both.  He  had  a  sort  of  pride  in  the  noble 
family  whose  legal  affairs  he  had  conducted  so 
long,  and  it  would  have  annoyed  him  very  much 
to  have  found  himself  obliged  to  manage  a  woman 
who  would  seem  to  him  a  vulgar,  money-loving 
person,  with  no  respect  for  her  dead  husband's 
country  and  the  dignity  of  his  name.  It  was  a 


2%  Little  Lord  Fauntlero' 

very  old  name  and  a  very  splendid  one,  and  Mr. 
Havisham  had  a  great  respect  for  it  himself, 
though  he  was  only  a  cold,  keen,  business-like  old 
lawyer. 

When  Mary  handed  him  into  the  small  parlor, 
he  looked  around  it  critically.  It  was  plainly 
furnished,  but  it  had  a  home-like  look ;  there  were 
no  cheap,  common  ornaments,  and  no  cheap, 
gaudy  pictures ;  the  few  adornments  on  the  walls 
were  in  good  taste,  and  about  the  room  were 
many  pretty  things  which  a  woman's  hand  might 
have  made. 

"  Not  at  all  bad  so  far,"  he  had  said  to  himself  ; 
"  but  perhaps  the  Captain's  taste  predominated." 
But  when  Mrs.  Errol  came  into  the  room,  he  be- 
gan to  think  she  herself  might  have  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  it.  If  he  had  not  been  quite  a 
self-contained  and  stiff  old  gentleman,  he  would 
probably  have  started  when  he  saw  her.  She 
looked,  in  the  simple  black  dress,  fitting  closely 
to  her  slender  figure,  more  like  a  young  girl  than 
the  mother  of  a  boy  of  seven.  She  had  a  pretty, 
sorrowful,  young  face,  and  a  very  tender,  inno- 
cent look  in  her  large  brown  eyes, — the  sorrowful 
look  that  had  never  quite  left  her  face  since  her 
husband  had  died.  Cedric  was  used  to  seeing  it 
there ;  the  only  times  he  had  ever  seen  it  fade  out 
had  been  when  he  was  playing  with  her  or  talk- 
ing to  her,  and  had  said  some  old-fashioned  thing, 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  29 

or  used  some  long  word  he  had  picked  up  out  of 
the  newspapers  or  in  his  conversations  with  Mr. 
Hobbs.  He  was  fond  of  using  long  words,  and 
he  was  always  pleased  when  they  made  her  laugh, 
though  he  could  not  understand  why  they  were 
laughable ;  they  were  quite  serious  matters  with 
him.  The  lawyer's  experience  taught  him  to  read 
people's  characters  very  shrewdly,  and  as  soon 
as  he  saw  Cedric's  mother  he  knew  that  the  old 
Earl  had  made  a  great  mistake  in  thinking  her 
a  vulgar,  mercenary  woman.  Mr.  Havisham  had 
never  been  married,  he  had  never  even  been  in 
love,  but  he  divined  that  this  pretty  young  creat- 
ure with  the  sweet  voice  and  sad  eyes  had  mar- 
ried  Captain  Errol  only  because  she  loved  him 
with  all  her  affectionate  heart,  and  that  she  had 
never  once  thought  it  an  advantage  that  he  was 
an  earl's  son.  And  he  saw  he  should  have  no 
trouble  with  her,  and  he  began  to  feel  that  per- 
haps little  Lord  Fauntleroy  might  not  be  such  a 
trial  to  his  noble  family,  after  all.  The  Captain 
had  been  a  handsome  fellow,  and  the  young 
mother  was  very  pretty,  and  perhaps  the  boy 
might  be  well  enough  to  look  at. 

When  he  first  told  Mrs.  Errol  what  he  had 
come  for,  she  turned  very  pale. 

"  Oh  ! "  she  said  ;  "  will  he  have  to  be  taken 
away  from  me?  We  love  each  other  so  much! 
He  is  such  a  happiness  to  me  I  He  is  all  I  have 


3O  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

I  have  tried  to  be  a  good  mother  to  him."  And 
her  sweet  young  voice  trembled,  and  the  tears 
rushed  into  her  eyes.  "  You  do  not  know  what 
he  has  been  to  me  * "  she  said. 

The  lawyer  cleared  his  throat. 

"  I  am  obliged  to  tell  you,"  he  said,  "  that  the 
Earl  of  Dorincourt  is  not — is  not  very  friendly 
toward  you.  He  is  an  old  man,  and  his  preju- 
dices are  very  strong.  He  has  always  especially 
disliked  America  and  Americans,  and  was  very 
much  enraged  by  his  son's  marriage.  I  am  sorry 
to  be  the  bearer  of  so  unpleasant  a  communica- 
tion, but  he  is  very  fixed  in  his  determination  not 
to  see  you.  His  plan  is  that  Lord  Fauntleroy 
shall  be  educated  under  his  own  supervision ; 
that  he  shall  live  with  him.  The  Earl  is  attached 
to  Dorincourt  Castle,  and  spends  a  great  deal  of 
time  there.  He  is  a  victim  to  inflammatory  gout, 
and  is  not  fond  of  London.  Lord  Fauntleroy 
will,  therefore,  be  likely  to  live  chiefly  at  Dorin- 
court. The  Earl  offers  you  as  a  home  Court 
Lodge,  which  is  situated  pleasantly,  and  is  not 
very  far  from  the  castle.  He  also  offers  you  a 
suitable  income.  Lord  Fauntleroy  will  be  per- 
mitted to  visit  you;  the  only  stipulation  is,  that 
you  shall  not  visit  him  or  enter  the  park  gates. 
You  see  you  will  not  be  really  separated  from 
your  son,  and  I  assure  you,  madam,  the  terms  are 
not  so  harsh  as — as  they  might  have  been.  The 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  31 

advantage  of  such  surroundings  and  education  as 
Lord  Fauntleroy  will  have,  I  am  sure  you  must 
see,  will  be  very  great." 

He  felt  a  little  uneasy  lest  she  should  begin  to 
cry  or  make  a  scene,  as  he  knew  some  women 
would  have  done.  It  embarrassed  and  annoyed 
him  to  see  women  cry. 

But  she  did  not.  She  went  to  the  window  and 
stood  with  her  face  turned  away  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, and  he  saw  she  was  trying  to  steady  her- 
self. 

"  Captain  Errol  was  very  fond  of  Dorincourt," 
she  said  at  last.  "  He  loved  England,  and  every, 
thing  English.  It  was  always  a  grief  to  him  that 
he  was  parted  from  his  home.  He  was  proud  of 
his  home,  and  of  his  name.  He  would  wish — I 
know  he  would  wish  that  his  son  should  know 
the  beautiful  old  places,  and  be  brought  up  in 
such  a  way  as  would  be  suitable  to  his  future 
position." 

Then  she  came  back  to  the  table  and  stood 
looking  up  at  Mr.  Havisham  very  gently. 

"  My  husband  would  wish  it,"  she  said.  "  It 
will  be  best  for  my  little  boy.  I  know — I  am 
sure  the  Earl  would  not  be  so  unkind  as  to  try  to 
teach  him  not  to  love  me ;  and  I  know — even  if 
he  tried — that  my  little  boy  is  too  much  like  his 
father  to  be  harmed.  He  has  a  warm,  faithful 
nature,  and  a  true  heart.  He  would  love  me  even 


32  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

if  he  did  not  see  me ;  and  so  long  as  we  may  see 
each  other,  I  ought  not  to  suffer  very  much." 

"  She  thinks  very  little  of  herself,"  the  lawyer 
thought.  "  She  does  not  make  any  terms  for  her- 
self." 

"  Madam,"  he  said  aloud,  "  I  respect  your  con- 
sideration for  your  son.  He  will  thank  you  for  it 
when  he  is  a  man.  I  assure  you  Lord  Fauntleroy 
will  be  most  carefully  guarded,  and  every  effort 
will  be  used  to  insure  his  happiness.  The  Earl  of 
Dorincourt  will  be  as  anxious  for  his  comfort  and 
well-being  as  you  yourself  could  be.'* 

"  I  hope,"  said  the  tender  little  mother,  in  a 
rather  broken  voice,  "  that  his  grandfather  will 
love  Ceddie.  The  little  boy  has  a  very  affection- 
ate nature ;  and  he  has  always  been  loved." 

Mr.  Havisham  cleared  his  throat  again.  He 
could  not  quite  imagine  the  gouty,  fiery-tempered 
old  Earl  loving  any  one  very  much ;  but  he  knew 
it  would  be  to  his  interest  to  be  kind,  in  his  irri- 
table way,  to  the  child  who  was  to  be  his  heir. 
He  knew,  too,  that  if  Ceddie  were  at  all  a  credit 
to  his  name,  his  grandfather  would  be  proud  of 
him. 

"  Lord  Fauntleroy  will  be  comfortable,  I  am 
sure,"  he  replied.  "  It  was  with  a  view  to  his 
happiness  that  the  Earl  desired  that  you  should 
be  near  enough  to  him  to  see  him  frequently." 

He  did  not  think  it  would  be  discreet  to  repeat 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  33 

the  exact  words  the  Earl  had  used,  which  were  in 
fact  neither  polite  nor  amiable. 

Mr.  Havisham  preferred  to  express  his  noble 
patron's  offer  in  smoother  and  more  courteous 
language. 

He  had  another  slight  shock  when  Mrs.  Errol 
asked  Mary  to  find  her  little  boy  and  bring  him  to 
her,  and  Mary  told  her  where  he  was. 

"  Sure  I'll  foind  him  aisy  enough,  ma'am,"  she 
said  ;  "  for  it's  wid  Mr.  Hobbs  he  is  this  minnit, 
settin'  on  his  high  shtool  by  the  counther  an* 
talkin'  pollytics,  most  loikely,  or  enj'yin'  hisself 
among  the  soap  an'  candles  an*  pertaties,  as 
sinsible  an'  shwate  as  ye  plase." 

"  Mr.  Hobbs  has  known  him  all  his  life,"  Mrs. 
Errol  said  to  the  lawyer.  "  He  is  very  kind  to 
Ceddie,  and  there  is  a  great  friendship  between 
them." 

Remembering  the  glimpse  he  had  caught  of  the 
store  as  he  passed  it,  and  having  a  recollection  of 
the  barrels  of  potatoes  and  apples  and  the  various 
odds  and  ends,  Mr.  Havisham  felt  his  doubts 
arise  again.  In  England,  gentlemen's  sons  did 
not  make  friends  of  grocerymen,  and  it  seemed 
to  him  a  rather  singular  proceeding.  It  would  be 
very  awkward  if  the  child  had  bad  manners  and 
a  disposition  to  like  low  company.  One  of  the 
bitterest  humiliations  of  the  old  Earl's  life  had 
been  that  his  two  elder  sons  had  been  fond  of  low 


34  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

company.  Could  it  be,  he  thought,  that  this  boy 
shared  their  bad  qualities  instead  of  his  father's 
good  qualities  ? 

He  was  thinking  uneasily  about  this  as  he  talked 
to  Mrs.  Errol  until  the  child  came  into  the  room. 
When  the  door  opened,  he  actually  hesitated  a 
moment  before  looking  at  Cedric.  It  would,  per- 
haps,  have  seemed  very  queer  to  a  great  many 
people  who  knew  him,  if  they  could  have  known 
the  curious  sensations  that  passed  through  Mr. 
Havisham  when  he  looked  down  at  the  boy,  who 
ran  into  his  mother's  arms.  He  experienced  a 
revulsion  of  feeling  which  was  quite  exciting. 
He  recognized  in  an  instant  that  here  was  one  of 
the  finest  and  handsomest  little  fellows  he  had 
ever  seen.  His  beauty  was  something  unusual. 
He  had  a  strong,  lithe,  graceful  little  body  and  a 
manly  little  face ;  he  held  his  childish  head  up, 
and  carried  himself  with  a  brave  air ;  he  was  so 
like  his  father  that  it  was  really  startling ;  he  had 
his  father's  golden  hair  and  his  mother's  brown 
eyes,  but  there  was  nothing  sorrowful  or  timid  in 
them.  They  were  innocently  fearless  eyes ;  he 
looked  as  if  he  had  never  feared  or  doubted  any- 
thing in  his  life. 

"  He  is  the  best-bred-looking  and  handsomest 
little  fellow  I  ever  saw,"  was  what  Mr.  Havisham 
thought.  What  he  said  aloud  was  simply,  "  And 
so  this  is  little  Lord  Fauntleroy." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  35 

And,  after  this,  the  more  he  saw  of  little  Lord 
Fauntleroy,  the  more  of  a  surprise  he  found  him. 
He  knew  very  little  about  children,  though  he 
had  seen  plenty  of  them  in  England — fine,  hand- 
some, rosy  girls  and  boys,  who  were  strictly 
taken  care  of  by  their  tutors  and  governesses,  and 
who  were  sometimes  shy,  and  sometimes  a  trifle 
boisterous,  but  never  very  interesting  to  a  cere- 
monious, rigid  old  lawyer.  Perhaps  his  personal 
interest  in  little  Lord  Fauntleroy 's  fortunes  made 
him  notice  Ceddie  more  than  he  had  noticed 
other  children;  but,  however  that  was,  he  cer- 
tainly found  himself  noticing  him  a  great  deal. 

Cedric  did  not  know  he  was  being  observed, 
and  he  only  behaved  himself  in  his  ordinary  man- 
ner. He  shook  hands  with  Mr.  Havisham  in  his 
friendly  way  when  they  were  introduced  to  each 
other,  and  he  answered  all  his  questions  with  the 
unhesitating  readiness  with  which  he  answered 
Mr.  Hobbs.  He  was  neither  shy  nor  bold,  and 
when  Mr.  Havisham  was  talking  to  his  mother, 
the  lawyer  noticed  that  he  listened  to  the  conver- 
sation with  as  much  interest  as  if  he  had  been 
quite  grown  up. 

"  He  seems  to  be  a  very  mature  little  fellow," 
Mr.  Havisham  said  to  the  mother. 

"  I  think  he  is,  in  some  things,"  she  answered. 
"  He  has  always  been  very  quick  to  learn,  and  he 
has  lived  a  great  deal  with  grown-up  people.  He 


36  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

has  a  funny  little  habit  of  using1  long  words  and 
expressions  he  has  read  in  books,  or  has  heard 
others  use,  but  he  is  very  fond  of  childish  play. 
I  think  he  is  rather  clever,  but  he  is  a  very  boyish 
little  boy,  sometimes." 

The  next  time  Mr.  Havisham  met  him,  he  saw 
that  this  last  was  quite  true.  As  his  coupe"  turned 
the  corner,  he  caught  sight  of  a  group  of  small 
boys,  who  were  evidently  much  excited.  Two  of 
them  were  about  to  run  a  race,  and  one  of  them 
was  his  young  lordship,  and  he  was  shouting  and 
making  as  much  noise  as  the  noisiest  of  his  com- 
panions. He  stood  side  by  side  with  another  boy, 
one  little  red  leg  advanced  a  step. 

"  One,  to  make  ready ! "  yelled  the  starter. 
"  Two,  to  be  steady.  Three — and  away ! " 

Mr.  Havisham  found  himself  leaning  out  of  the 
window  of  his  coupe"  with  a  curious  feeling  of  in- 
terest. He  really  never  remembered  having  seen 
anything  quite  like  the  way  in  which  his  lord- 
ship's lordly  little  red  legs  flew  up  behind  his 
knickerbockers  and  tore  over  the  ground  as  he 
shot  out  in  the  race  at  the  signal  word.  He  shut 
his  small  hands  and  set  his  face  against  the  wind ; 
his  bright  hair  streamed  out  behind. 

"  Hooray,  Ced  Errol ! "  all  the  boys  shouted, 
dancing  and  shrieking  with  excitement.  "  Hoo- 
ray, Billy  Williams !  Hooray,  Ceddie  1  Hooray, 
Billy  1  Hooray  1  'Ray  I  'Ray  1 " 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 


37 


"I  really  believe  he  is  going  to  win,"  said  Mr. 
Havisham.  The  way  in  which  the  red  legs  flew 
and  flashed  up  and  down,  the  shrieks  of  the  boys, 
the  wild  efforts  of 
Billy  Williams,  whose 
brown  legs  were  not 
to  be  despised,  as  they 
followed  closely  in 
the  rear  of  the  red 
legs,  made  him  feel 
some  excitement.  "  I 
really  —  I  really  can't 
help  hoping  he  will 
win  ! "  he  said,  with 
an  apologetic  sort  of 
cough.  At  that  mo- 
ment, the  wildest  yell 
of  all  went  up  from 
the  dancing,  hopping 
boys.  With  one  last 
frantic  lead  the  future 
Eari  of  Dorincourt 
had  reached  the  lamp. 

post  at  the  end  of  the  block  and  touched  it,  just 
two  seconds  before  Billy  Williams  flung  himself 
at  it,  panting. 

"  Three  cheers  for  Ceddie  Errol ! "  yelled  the 
little  boys.     "  Hooray  for  Ceddie  Errol ! " 

Mr.  Havisham  drew  his  head  in  at  the  win* 


38  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

dow  of  his  coupe*  and  leaned  back  with  a  dry 
smile. 

"  Bravo,  Lord  Fauntleroy  !  "  he  said. 

As  his  carriage  stopped  before  the  door  of  Mrs. 
ErroFs  house,  the  victor  and  the  vanquished  were 
coming  toward  it,  attended  by  the  clamoring 
crew.  Cedric  walked  by  Billy  Williams  and 
was  speaking  to  him.  His  elated  little  face  was 
very  red,  his  curls  clung  to  his  hot,  moist  fore- 
head,  his  hands  were  in  his  pockets. 

"  You  see,"  he  was  saying,  evidently  with  the 
intention  of  making  defeat  easy  for  his  unsuccess- 
ful rival,  "  I  guess  1  won  because  my  legs  are  a 
little  longer  than  yours.  I  guess  that  was  it. 
You  see,  I'm  three  days  older  than  you,  and  that 
gives  me  a  Vantage.  I'm  three  days  older." 

And  this  view  of  the  case  seemed  to  cheer 
Billy  Williams  so  much  that  he  began  to  smile  on 
the  world  again,  and  felt  able  to  swagger  a  little, 
almost  as  if  he  had  won  the  race  instead  of  losing 
it.  Somehow,  Ceddie  Errol  had  a  way  of  making 
people  feel  comfortable.  Even  in  the  first  flush 
of  his  triumphs,  he  remembered  that  the  person 
who  was  beaten  might  not  feel  so  gay  as  he  did, 
and  might  like  to  think  that  he  might  have  been 
the  winner  under  different  circumstances. 

That  morning  Mr.  Havisham  had  quite  a  long 
conversation  with  the  winner  of  the  race — a  con- 
versation which  made  him  smile  his  dry  smile, 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  39 

and  rub  his  chin  with  his  bony  hand  several 
times. 

Mrs.  Errol  had  been  called  out  of  the  parlor, 
and  the  lawyer  and  Cedric  were  left  together. 
At  first  Mr.  Havisham  wondered  what  he  should 
say  to  his  small  companion.  He  had  an  idea  that 
perhaps  it  would  be  best  to  say  several  things 
which  might  prepare  Cedric  for  meeting  his 
grandfather,  and,  perhaps,  for  the  great  change 
that  was  to  come  to  him.  He  could  see  that  Ced- 
ric had  not  the  least  idea  of  the  sort  of  thing  he 
was  to  see  when  he  reached  England,  or  of  the 
sort  of  home  that  waited  for  him  there.  He  did 
not  even  know  yet  that  his  mother  was  not  to 
live  in  the  same  house  with  him.  They  had 
thought  it  best  to  let  him  get  over  the  first  shock 
before  telling  him. 

Mr.  Havisham  sat  in  an  arm-chair  on  one  side  of 
the  open  window  ;  on  the  other  side  was  another 
still  larger  chair,  and  Cedric  sat  in  that  and 
looked  at  Mr.  Havisham,  He  sat  well  back  in 
the  depths  of  his  big  seat,  his  curly  head  against 
the  cushioned  back,  his  legs  crossed,  and  his 
hands  thrust  deep  into  his  pockets,  in  a  quite  Mr. 
Hobbs-like  way.  He  had  been  watching  Mr. 
Havisham  very  steadily  when  his  mamma  had 
been  in  the  room,  and  after  she  was  gone  he  still 
looked  at  him  in  respectful  though  tfulness. 
There  was  a  short  silence  after  Mrs.  Errol  went 


40  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

out,  and  Cedric  seemed  to  be  studying  Mr.  Havi- 
sham,  and  Mr.  Havisham  was  certainly  studying 
Cedric.  He  could  not  make  up  his  mind  as  to 
what  an  elderly  gentleman  should  say  to  a  little 
boy  who  won  races,  and  wore  short  knickerbock- 
ers and  red  stockings  on  legs  which  were  not 
long  enough  to  hang  over  a  big  chair  when  he 
sat  well  back  in  it. 

But  Cedric  relieved  him  by  suddenly  begin- 
ning  the  conversation  himself. 

"  Do  you  know,"  he  said,  "  I  don't  know  what 
an  earl  is  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  ?  "  said  Mr.  Havisham. 

"  No,"  replied  Ceddie.  "  And  I  think  when  a 
boy  is  going  to  be  one,  he  ought  to  know.  Don't 
you  ?  " 

"  Well — yes,"  answered  Mr.  Havisham. 

"  Would  you  mind,"  said  Ceddie  respectfully — 
"would  you  mind  'splaining  it  to  me?"  (Some- 
times when  he  used  his  long  words  he  did  not 
pronounce  them  quite  correctly.)  "What  made 
him  an  earl  ?  " 

"  A  king  or  queen,  in  the  first  place,"  said  Mr. 
Havisham.  "  Generally,  he  is  made  an  earl  be- 
cause he  has  done  some  service  to  his  sovereign, 
or  some  great  deed." 

"Oh  !"  said  Cedric;  "that's  like  the  President." 

"Is  it?"  said  Mr.  Havisham.  "Is  that  why 
your  presidents  are  elected  ?  " 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  41 

"Yes,"  answered  Ceddie  cheerfully.  "When 
a  man  is  very  good  and  knows  a  great  deal,  he  is 
elected  president.  They  have  torch-light  proces- 


' '  I    USED    TO  THINK  I   MIGHT    PERHAPS  'BE    A  PRESIDENT,  BUT  I 
NEVER  THOUGHT  OF   BEING  AN  EARL,'  SAID   CEDDIE." 

sions  and  bands,  and  everybody  makes  speeches. 
I  used  to  think  I  might  perhaps  be  a  president, 
but  I  never  thought  of  being  an  earl.  I  didn't 
know  about  earls,"  he  said,  rather  hastily,  lest 


42  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

Mr.  Havisham  might  feel  it  impolite  in  him  not 
to  have  wished  to  be  one, — "  if  I'd  known  about 
them,  I  dare  say  I  should  have  thought  I  should 
like  to  be  one." 

"  It  is  rather  different  from  being  a  president," 
said  Mr.  Havisham. 

"  Is  it  ?  "asked  Cedric.  "  How  ?  Are  there  no 
torch-light  processions  ?  " 

Mr.  Havisham  crossed  his  own  legs  and  put 
the  tips  of  his  fingers  carefully  together.  He 
thought  perhaps  the  time  had  come  to  explain 
matters  rather  more  clearly. 

"  An  earl  is — is  a  very  important  person,"  he 
began. 

"  So  is  a  president ! "  put  in  Ceddie.  "  The 
torch-light  processions  are  five  miles  long,  and 
they  shoot  up  rockets,  and  the  band  plays !  Mr. 
Hobbs  took  me  to  see  them." 

"An  earl,"  Mr.  Havisham  went  on,  feeling 
rather  uncertain  of  his  ground,  "  te  frequently  of 
very  ancient  lineage " 

"  What's  that?"  asked  Ceddie. 

"  Of  very  old  family — extremely  old." 

"  Ah !  "  said  Cedric,  thrusting  his  hands  deeper 
into  his  pockets.  "  I  suppose  that  is  the  way 
with  the  apple-woman  near  the  park.  I  dare  say 
she  is  of  ancient  lin-lenage.  She  is  so  old  it  would 
surprise  you  how  she  can  stand  up.  She's  a  hun- 
dred, I  should  think,  and  yet  she  is  out  there 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  43 

when  it  rains,  even.  I'm  sorry  for  her,  and  so  are 
the  other  boys.  Billy  Williams  once  had  nearly 
a  dollar,  and  I  asked  him  to  buy  five  cents'  worth 
of  apples  from  her  every  day  until  he  had  spent 
it  all.  That  made  twenty  days,  and  he  grew  tired 
of  apples  after  a  week ;  but  then — it  was  quite 
fortunate — a  gentleman  gave  me  fifty  cents  and  I 
bought  apples  from  her  instead.  You  feel  sorry 
for  any  one  that's  so  poor  and  has  such  ancient 
lin-lenage.  She  says  hers  has  gone  into  her 
bones  and  the  rain  makes  it  worse." 

Mr.  Havisham  felt  lather  at  a  loss  as  he 
looked  at  his  companion's  innocent,  serious  little 
face. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  did  not  quite  understand  me," 
he  explained.  "  When  I  said  '  ancient  lineage  '  I 
did  not  mean  old  age ;  I  meant  that  the  name  of 
such  a  family  has  been  known  in  the  world  a 
long  time  ;  perhaps  for  hundreds  of  years  persons 
bearing  that  name  have  been  known  and  spoken 
of  in  the  history  of  their  country." 

"  Like  George  Washington,"  safd  Ceddie. 
"  I've  heard  of  him  ever  since  I  was  born,  and  he 
was  known  about,  long  before  that.  Mr.  Hobbs 
says  he  will  never  be  forgotten.  That's  because 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  you  know, 
and  the  Fourth  of  July.  You  see,  he  was  a  very 
brave  man." 

"  The  first  Earl  of  Dorincourt,"  said  Mr.  Havi- 


44  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

sham  solemnly,  "  was  created  an  earl  four  nun- 
dred  years  ago." 

"  Well,  well !  "  said  Ceddie.  "  That  was  a  long 
time  ago!  Did  you  tell  Dearest  that?  It  would 
int'rust  her  very  much.  We'll  tell  her  when  she 
comes  in.  She  always  likes  to  hear  cur'us  things. 
What  else  does  an  earl  do  besides  being 
created  ?  " 

"  A  great  many  of  them  have  helped  to  govern 
England.  Some  of  them  have  been  brave  men 
and  have  fought  in  great  battles  in  the  old  days." 

"  I  should  like  to  do  that  myself,"  said  Cedric. 
"  My  papa  was  a  soldier,  and  he  was  a  very  brave 
man — as  brave  as  George  Washington.  Perhaps 
that  was  because  he  would  have  been  an  earl 
if  he  hadn't  died.  I  am  glad  earls  are  brave. 
That's  a  great  Vantage  —  to  be  a  brave  man. 
Once  I  used  to  be  ather  afraid  of  things — in  the 
dark,  you  know ;  bat  when  I  thought  about  the 
soldiers  in  the  Revolution  and  George  Washing- 
ton— it  cured  me." 

"  There  is  another  advantage  in  being  an  earl, 
sometimes,"  said  Mr.  Havisham  slowly,  and  he 
fixed  his  shrewd  eyes  on  the  little  boy  with  a 
rather  curious  expression.  "  Some  earls  have  a 
great  deal  of  money." 

He  was  curious  because  he  wondered  if  his 
young  friend  knew  what  the  power  of  money 
was. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  45 

"  That's  a  good  thing  to  have,"  said  Ceddie  in- 
nocently. "  I  wish  I  had  a  great  deal  of  money." 

"Do  you?"  said  Mr.  Havisham.  "And 
why?" 

"  Well,"  explained  Cedric,  "  there  are  so  many 
things  a  person  can  do  with  money.  You  see, 
there's  the  apple-woman.  If  I  were  very  rich  I 
should  buy  her  a  little  tent  to  put  her  stall  in, 
and  a  little  stove,  and  then  I  should  give  her  a 
dollar  every  morning  it  rained,  so  that  she  could 
afford  to  stay  at  home.  And  then — oh  !  I'd  give 
her  a  shawl.  And,  you  see,  her  bones  wouldn't 
feel  so  badly.  Her  bones  are  not  like  our  bones ; 
they  hurt  her  when  she  moves.  It's  very  painful 
when  your  bones  hurt  you.  If  I  were  rich 
enough  to  do  all  those  things  for  her,  I  guess  her 
bones  would  be  all  right." 

"Ahem!"  said  Mr.  Havisham.  "And  what 
else  would  you  do  if  you  were  rich  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  I'd  do  a  great  many  things.  Of  course  I 
should  buy  Dearest  all  sorts  of  beautiful  things, 
needle -books  and  fans  and  gold  thimbles  and 
rings,  and  an  encyclopedia,  and  a  carriage,  so 
that  she  needn't  have  to  wait  for  the  street-cars. 
If  she  liked  pink  silk  dresses,  I  should  buy  her 
some,  but  she  likes  black  best.  But  I'd  take  her 
to  the  big  stores,  and  tell  her  to  look  'round  and 
choose  for  herself.  And  then  Dick " 

"  Who  is  Dick  ? "  asked  Mr.  Havisham. 


46  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"  Dick  is  a  boot-black/'  said  his  young  lord- 
ship, quite  warming  up  in  his  interest  in  plans  so 
exciting.  "  He  is  one  of  the  nicest  boot-blacks 
you  ever  knew.  He  stands  at  the  corner  of  a 
street  down-town.  I've  known  him  for  years. 
Once  when  I  was  very  little,  I  was  walking  out 
with  Dearest,  and  she  bought  me  a  beautiful 
ball  that  bounced,  and  I  was  carrying  it  and  it 
bounced  into  the  middle  of  the  street  where  the 
carriages  and  horses  were,  and  I  was  so  dis- 
appointed, I  began  to  cry — I  was  very  little.  I 
had  kilts  on.  And  Dick  was  blacking  a  man's 
shoes,  and  he  said  *  Hello  ! '  and  he  ran  in  between 
the  horses  and  caught  the  ball  for  me  and  wiped 
it  off  with  his  coat  and  gave  it  to  me  and  said, 
'  It's  all  right,  young  un.'  So  Dearest  admired 
him  very  much,  and  so  did  I,  and  ever  since  then, 
when  we  go  down -town,  we  talk  to  him.  He 
says  '  Hello ! '  and  I  say  '  Hello  ! '  and  then  we 
talk  a  little,  and  he  tells  me  how  trade  is.  It's 
been  bad  lately." 

"  And  what  would  you  like  to  do  for  him  ?  " 
inquired  the  lawyer,  rubbing  his  chin  and  smiling 
a  queer  smile. 

"Well,"  said  Lord  Fauntleroy,  settling  himself 
in  his  chair  with  a  business  air,  "  I'd  buy  Jake 
but." 

"And  who  is  Jake?  "  Mr.  Havisham  asked. 

"  He's    Dick's  partner,  and   he  is    the   worst 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  47 

partner  a  fellow  could  have  !  Dick  says  so.  He 
isn't  a  credit  to  the  business,  and  he  isn't  square. 
He  cheats,  and  that  makes  Dick  mad.  It  would 
make  you  mad,  you  know,  if  you  were  blacking 
boots  as  hard  as  you  could,  and  being  square  all 
the  time,  and  your  partner  wasn't  square  at  all. 
People  like  Dick,  but  they  don't  like  Jake,  and  so 
sometimes  they  don't  come  twice.  So  if  I  were 
rich,  I'd  buy  Jake  out  and  get  Dick  a  *  boss '  sign 
— he  says  a  *  boss  '  sign  goes  a  long  way  ;  and  I'd 
get  him  some  new  clothes  and  new  brushes,  and 
start  him  out  fair.  He  says  all  he  wants  is  to 
start  out  fair." 

There  could  have  been  nothing  more  confiding 
and  innocent  than  the  way  in  which  his  small 
lordship  told  his  little  story,  quoting  his  friend 
Dick's  bit  of  slang  in  the  most  candid  good  faith. 
He  seemed  to  feel  not  a  shade  of  a  doubt  that  his 
elderly  companion  would  be  just  as  interested 
as  he  was  himself.  And  in  truth  Mr.  Havisham 
was  beginning  to  be  greatly  interested ;  but  perr 
haps  not  quite  so  much  in  Dick  and  the  apple- 
woman  as  in  this  kind  little  lordling,  whose  curly 
head  was  so  busy,  under  its  yellow  thatch,  with 
good-natured  plans  for  his  friends,  and  who 
seemed  somehow  to  have  forgotten  himself  alto- 
gether. 

"Is  there  anything "  he  began.  "  What 

would  you  get  for  yourself,  if  you  were  rich  ?  " 


48  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"  Lots  of  things ! "  answered  Lord  Fauntleroy 
briskly ;  "  but  first  I'd  giye  Mary  some  money  for 
Bridget — that's  her  sister,  with  twelve  children, 
and  a  husband  out  of  work.  She  comes  here  and 
cries,  and  Dearest  gives  her  things  in  a  basket, 
and  then  she  cries  again,  and  says :  *  Blessin's  be 
on  yez,  for  a  beautiful  lady.'  And  I  think  Mr. 
Hobbs  would  like  a  gold  watch  and  chain  to  re- 
member me  by,  and  a  meerschaum  pipe.  And 
then  I'd  like  to  get  up  a  company." 

"  A  company  ! "  exclaimed  Mr.  Havisham. 

"  Like  a  Republican  rally,"  explained  Cedric, 
becoming  quite  excited.  "  I'd  have  torches  and 
uniforms  and  things  for  all  the  boys  and  myself, 
too.  And  we'd  march,  you  know,  and  drill. 
That's  what  I  should  like  for  myself,  if  I  were 
rich." 

The  door  opened  and  Mrs.  Errol  came  in. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  have  been  obliged  to  leave  you 
so  long,"  she  said  to  Mr.  Havisham  ;  "  but  a  poor 
woman,  who  is  in  great  trouble,  came  to  see  me." 

"  This  young  gentleman,"  said  Mr.  Havisham, 
"has  been  telling  me  about  some  of  his  friends, 
and  what  he  would  do  for  them  if  he  were  rich." 

"  Bridget  is  one  of  his  friends,"  said  Mrs.  Errol ; 
"  and  it  is  Bridget  to  whom  I  have  been  talking 
in  the  kitchen.  She  is  in  great  trouble  now  be- 
cause her  husband  has  rheumatic  fever." 

Cedric  slipped  down  out  of  his  big  chair. 


Little  Lord  Faun  tier oy  49 

"  I  think  I'll  go  and  see  her,"  he  said,  "  and  ask 
her  how  he  is.  He's  a  nice  man  when  he  is  well. 
I'm  obliged  to  him  because  he  once  made  me  a 
sword  out  of  wood.  He's  a  very  talented  man." 

He  ran  out  of  the  room,  and  Mr.  Havisham  rose 
from  his  chair.  He  seemed  to  have  something  in 
his  mind  which  he  wished  to  speak  of.  He  hesi- 
tated a  moment,  and  then  said,  looking  down  at 
Mrs.  Errol : 

"  Before  I  left  Dorincourt  Castle,  I  had  an  in- 
terview with  the  Earl,  in  which  he  gave  me  some 
instructions.  He  is  desirous  that  his  grandson 
should  look  forward  with  some  pleasure  to  his 
future  life  in  England,  and  also  to  his  acquaintance 
with  himself.  He  said  that  I  must  let  his  lord- 
ship know  that  the  change  in  his  life  would  bring 
him  money  and  the  pleasures  children  enjoy ;  if 
he  expressed  any  wishes,  I  was  to  gratify  them, 
and  to  tell  him  that  his  grandfather  had  given  him 
what  he  wished.  I  am  aware  that  the  Earl  did 
not  expect  anything  quite  like  this  ;  but  if  it  would 
give  Lord  Fauntleroy  pleasure  to  assist  this  poor 
woman,  I  should  feel  that  the  Earl  would  be  dis- 
pleased if  he  were  not  gratified." 

For  the  second  time,  he  did  not  repeat  the  Earl's 
exact  words.  His  lordship  had,  indeed,  said : 

"  Make  the  lad  understand  that  I  can  give  him 
anything  he  wants.  Let  him  know  what  it  is  to 
be  the  grandson  of  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt.  Buy 
4 


50  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

him  everything  he  takes  a  fancy  to ;  let  him  have 
money  in  his  pockets,  and  tell  him  his  grandfather 
put  it  there." 

His  motives  were  far  from  being  good,  and  it 
he  had  been  dealing  with  a  nature  less  affectionate 
and  warm-hearted  than  little  Lord  Fauntleroy 's, 
great  harm  might  have  been  done.  And  Cedric's 
mother  was  too  gentle  to  suspect  any  harm.  She 
thought  that  perhaps  this  meant  that  a  lonely, 
unhappy  old  man,  whose  children  were  dead, 
wished  to  be  kind  to  her  little  boy,  and  win  his 
love  and  confidence.  And  it  pleased  her  very 
much  to  think  that  Ceddie  would  be  able  to  help 
Bridget.  It  made  her  happier  to  know  that  the 
very  first  result  of  the  strange  fortune  which  had 
befallen  her  little  boy  was  that  he  could  do  kind 
things  for  those  who  needed  kindness.  Quite  a 
warm  color  bloomed  on  her  pretty  young  face. 

"  Oh ! "  she  said,  "  that  was  very  kind  of  the 
Earl ;  Cedric  will  be  so  glad  !  He  has  always 
been  fond  of  Bridget  and  Michael.  They  are 
quite  deserving.  I  have  often  wished  I  had  been 
able  to  help  them  more.  Michael  is  a  hard-work- 
ing man  when  he  is  well,  but  he  has  been  ill  a  long 
time  and  needs  expensive  medicines  and  warm 
clothing  and  nourishing  food.  He  and  Bridget 
will  not  be  wasteful  of  what  is  given  them." 

Mr.  Havisham  put  his  thin  hand  in  his  breast 
pocket  and  drew  forth  a  large  pocket-book.  There 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  51 

was  a  queer  look  in  his  keen  face.  The  truth  was, 
he  was  wondering  what  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt 
would  say  when  he  was  told  what  was  the  first 
wish  of  his  grandson  that  had  been  granted.  He 
wondered  what  the  cross,  worldly,  selfish  old 
nobleman  would  think  of  it. 

"  I  do  not  know  that  you  have  realized,"  he 
said,  "  that  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt  is  an  exceed- 
ingly rich  man.  He  can  afford  to  gratify  any 
caprice.  I  think  it  would  please  him  to  know 
that  Lord  Fauntleroy  had  been  indulged  in  any 
fancy.  If  you  will  call  him  back  and  allow  me,  I 
shall  give  him  five  pounds  for  these  people." 

"  That  would  be  twenty-five  dollars ! "  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Errol.  "  It  will  seem  like  wealth  to  them. 
I  can  scarcely  believe  that  it  is  true." 

"  It  is  quite  true,"  said  Mr.  Havisham,  with  his 
dry  smile.  "  A  great  change  has  taken  place  in 
your  son's  life,  a  great  deal  of  power  will  lie  in 
his  hands." 

"  Oh  !  "  cried  his  mother.  "  And  he  is  such  a 
little  boy — a  very  little  boy.  How  can  1  teach 
him  to  use  it  well  ?  It  makes  me  half  afraid.  My 
pretty  little  Ceddie  !  " 

The  lawyer  slightly  cleared  his  throat.  It 
touched  his  worldly,  hard  old  heart  to  see  the 
tender,  timid  look  in  her  brown  eyes. 

"  I  think,  madam,"  he  said,  "  that  if  I  may  judge 
from  my  interview  with  Lord  Fauntleroy  this 


52  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

morning,  the  next  Earl  of  Dorincourt  will  think 
for  others  as  well  as  for  his  noble  self.  He  is  only 
a  child  yet,  but  I  think  he  may  be  trusted." 

Then  his  mother  went  for  Cedric  and  brought 
him  back  into  the  parlor.  Mr.  Havisham  heard 
him  talking  before  he  entered  the  room. 

"  It's  infam-natory  rheumatism,"  he  was  saying, 
"  and  that's  a  kind  of  rheumatism  that's  dreadful. 
And  he  thinks  about  the  rent  not  being  paid,  and 
Bridget  says  that  makes  the  inf'ammation  worse. 
And  Pat  could  get  a  place  in  a  store  if  he  had 
some  clothes." 

His  little  face  looked  quite  anxious  when  he 
came  in.  He  was  very  sorry  for  Bridget. 

"  Dearest  said  you  wanted  me,"  he  said  to  Mr. 
Havisham.  "  I've  been  talking  to  Bridget." 

Mr.  Havisham  looked  down  at  him  a  moment. 
He  felt  a  little  awkward  and  undecided.  As 
Cedric's  mother  had  said,  he  was  a  very  little  boy. 

"  The  Earl  of  Dorincourt "  he  began,  and 

then  he  glanced  involuntarily  at  Mrs.  Errol. 

Little  Lord  Fauntleroy's  mother  suddenly 
kneeled  down  by  him  and  put  both  her  tender 
arms  around  his  childish  body. 

"  Ceddie,"  she  said,  "  the  Earl  is  your  grand- 
papa, your  own  papa's  father.  He  is  very,  very 
kind,  and  he  loves  you  and  wishes  you  to  love 
him,  because  the  sons  who  were  his  little  boys 
are  dead.  He  wishes  you  to  be  happy  and  to 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  53 

make  other  people  happy.  He  is  very  rich,  and 
he  wishes  you  to  have  everything  you  would  like 
to  have.  He  told  Mr.  Havisham  so,  and  gave  him 
a  great  deal  of  money  for  you.  You  can  give 
some  to  Bridget  now;  enough  to  pay  her  rent 
and  buy  Michael  everything.  Isn't  that  fine, 
Ceddie?  Isn't  he  good?"  And  she  kissed  the 
child  on  his  round  cheek,  where  the  bright  color 
suddenly  flashed  up  in  his  excited  amazement. 

He  looked  from  his  mother  to  Mr.  Havisham. 

"  Can  I  have  it  now  ?  "  he  cried.  "  Can  I  give 
it  to  her  this  minute  ?  She's  just  going." 

Mr.  Havisham  handed  him  the  money.  It  was 
in  fresh,  clean  greenbacks  and  made  a  neat  roll. 

Ceddie  flew  out  of  the  room  with  it. 

"  Bridget ! "  they  heard  him  shout,  as  he  tore 
into  the  kitchen.  "  Bridget,  wait  a  minute !  Here's 
some  money.  It's  for  you,  and  you  can  pay  the 
rent.  My  grandpapa  gave  it  to  me.  It's  for  you 
and  Michael ! " 

"  Oh,  Master  Ceddie ! "  cried  Bridget,  in  an  awe- 
stricken  voice.  "  It's  twinty-foive  dollars  is  here. 
Where  be's  the  misthress?" 

"  I  think  I  shall  have  to  go  and  explain  it  to 
her,"  Mrs.  Errol  said. 

So  she,  too,  went  out  of  the  room  and  Mr. 
Havisham  was  left  alone  for  a  while.  He  went  to 
the  window  and  stood  looking  out  into  the  street 
reflectively.  He  was  thinking  of  the  old  Earl  of 


54  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

Dorincourt,  sitting  in  his  great,  splendid,  gloomy 
library  at  the  castle,  gouty  and  lonely,  surrounded 
by  grandeur  and  luxury,  but  not  really  loved  by 
any  one,  because  in  all  his  long  life  he  had  never 
really  loved  any  one  but  himself;  he  had  been 
selfish  and  self-indulgent  and  arrogant  and  pas- 
sionate ;  he  had  cared  so  much  for  the  Earl  of 
Dorincourt  and  his  pleasures  that  there  had  been 
no  time  for  him  to  think  of  other  people  ;  all  his 
wealth  and  power,  all  the  benefits  from  his  noble 
name  and  high  rank,  had  seemed  to  him  to  be 
things  only  to  be  used  to  amuse  and  give  pleasure 
to  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt;  and  now  that  he  was 
an  old  man,  all  this  excitement  and  self-indulgence 
had  only  brought  him  ill  health  and  irritability 
and  a  dislike  of  the  world,  which  certainly  dis- 
liked him.  In  spite  of  all  his  splendor,  there  was 
never  a  more  unpopular  old  nobleman  than  the 
Earl  of  Dorincourt,  and  there  could  scarcely  hare 
been  a  more  lonely  one.  He  could  fill  his  castle 
with  guests  if  he  chose.  He  could  give  great 
dinners  and  splendid  hunting  parties ;  but  he  knew 
that  in  secret  the  people  who  would  accept  his  in- 
vitations were  afraid  of  his  frowning  old  face  and 
sarcastic,  biting  speeches.  He  had  a  cruel  tongue 
and  a  bitter  nature,  and  he  took  pleasure  in  sneer- 
ing at  people  and  making  them  feel  uncomfortable, 
when  he  had  the  power  to  do  so,  because  they 
were  sensitive  or  proud  or  timid. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  55 

Mr.  Havisham  knew  his  hard,  fierce  ways  by 
heart,  and  he  was  thinking  of  him  as  he  looked  out 
of  the  window  into  the  narrow,  quiet  street.  And 
there  rose  in  his  mind,  in  sharp  contrast,  the  pick 
ure  of  the  cheery,  handsome  little  fellow  sitting 
in  the  big  chair  and  telling  his  story  of  his  friends, 
Dick  and  the  apple-woman,  in  his  generous,  in- 
nocent,  honest  way.  And  he  thought  of  the  im- 
mense income,  the  beautiful,  majestic  estates,  the 
wealth,  and  power  for  good  or  evil,  which  in  the; 
course  of  time  would  lie  in  the  small,  chubby 
hands  little  Lord  Fauntleroy  thrust  so  deep  into 
his  pockets. 

"  It  will  make  a  great  difference,"  he  said  to 
himself.  "  It  will  make  a  great  difference." 

Cedric  and  his  mother  came  back  soon  after. 
Cedric  was  in  high  spirits.  He  sat  down  in  his 
own  chair,  between  his  mother  and  the  lawyer, 
and  fell  into  one  of  his  quaint  attitudes,  with  his 
hands  on  his  knees.  He  was  glowing  with  enjoy- 
ment of  Bridget's  relief  and  rapture. 

"  She  cried ! "  he  said.  "  She  said  she  was  cry- 
ing for  joy !  I  never  saw  any  one  cry  for  joy  be- 
fore. My  grandpapa  must  be  a  very  good  man. 
I  didn't  know  he  was  so  good  a  man.  It's  more — 
more  agreeabler  to  be  an  earl  than  I  thought  it 
was.  I'm  almost  glad — I'm  almost  quite  glad  I'm 
going  to  be  one." 


Ill 

CEDRIC'S  good  opinion  of  the  advantages  of 
being  an  earl  increased  greatly  during  the  next 
week.  It  seemed  almost  impossible  for  him  to 
realize  that  there  was  scarcely  anything  he  might 
wish  to  do  which  he  could  not  do  easily  ;  in  fact, 
I  think  it  may  be  said  that  he  did  not  fully  realize 
it  at  all.  But  at  least  he  understood,  after  a  few 
conversations  with  Mr.  Havisham,  that  he  could 
gratify  all  his  nearest  wishes,  and  he  proceeded 
to  gratify  them  with  a  simplicity  and  delight 
which  caused  Mr.  Havisham  much  diversion.  In 
the  week  before  they  sailed  for  England  he  did 
many  curious  things.  The  lawyer  long  after  re- 
membered the  morning  they  went  down-town  to- 
gether to  pay  a  visit  to  Dick,  and  the  afternoon 
they  so  amazed  the  apple -woman  of  ancient 
lineage  by  stopping  before  her  stall  and  telling 
her  she  was  to  have  a  tent,  and  a  stove,  and  a 
shawl,  and  a  sum  of  money  which  seemed  to  her 
quite  wonderful. 

"  For  I  have  to  go  to  England  and  be  a  lord," 
explained  Cedric,  sweet-temperedly.  "  And  I 
shouldn't  like  to  have  your  bones  on  my  mind 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 


57 


every  time  it  rained.  My  own  bones  never  hurt, 
so  I  think  I  don't  know  how  painful  a  person's 
bones  can  be,  but  I've  sympathized  with  you  a 
great  deal,  and 
I  hope  you'll  be 
better." 

"  She's  a  very 
good  apple- 
woman,"  he  said 
to  Mr.  Havi- 
sham,  as  they 
walked  away, 
leaving  the  pro- 
prietress of  the 
stall  almost 
gasping  for 
breath,  and  not 
at  all  believing 
in  her  great  fort- 
une. "  Once, 
when  I  fell  down 
and  cut  my  knee, 
she  gave  me  an 
apple  for  noth- 
ing. I've  always 
remembered 
her  for  it.  You  know  you  always  remember  peo- 
ple who  are  kind  to  you." 

It  had   never  occurred   to  his  honest,  simple 


I  HAVE  TO  GO  TO  ENGLAND  AND  BE  A 
LORD." 


58  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

little  mind  that  there  were  people  who  could  for- 
get kindnesses. 

The  interview  with  Dick  was  quite  exciting. 
Dick  had  just  been  having  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
with  Jake,  and  was  in  low  spirits  when  they  saw 
him.  His  amazement  when  Cedric  calmly  an- 
nounced that  they  had  come  to  give  him  what 
seemed  a  very  great  thing  to  him,  and  would  set 
all  his  troubles  right,  almost  struck  him  dumb. 
Lord  Fauntleroy's  manner  of  announcing  the  ob- 
ject of  his  visit  was  very  simple  and  unceremoni- 
ous. Mr.  Havisham  was  much  impressed  by  its 
directness  as  he  stood  by  and  listened.  The  state- 
ment that  his  old  friend  had  become  a  lord,  and 
was  in  danger  of  being  an  earl  if  he  lived  long 
enough,  caused  Dick  to  so  open  his  eyes  and 
mouth,  and  start,  that  his  cap  fell  off.  When  he 
picked  it  up,  he  uttered  a  rather  singular  excla- 
mation. Mr.  Havisham  thought  it  singular,  but 
Cedric  had  heard  it  before. 

"  I  soy !  "  he  said,  "  what're  yer  givin'  us  ?  " 
This  plainly  embarrassed  his  lordship  a  little,  but 
he  bore  himself  bravely. 

"  Everybody  thinks  it  not  true  at  first,"  he 
said.  "  Mr.  Hobbs  thought  I'd  had  a  sunstroke. 
I  didn't  think  I  was  going  to  like  it  myself,  but  I 
like  it  better  now  I'm  used  to  it.  The  one  who  is 
the  earl  now,  he's  my  grandpapa ;  and  he  wants 
me  to  do  anything  I  like.  He's  very  kind,  if  he 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  59 

is  an  earl ;  and  he  sent  me  a  lot  of  money  by  Mr. 
Havisham,  and  I've  brought  some  to  you  to  buy 
Jake  out." 

And  the  end  of  the  matter  was  that  Dick  act- 
ually bought  Jake  out,  and  found  himself  the  pos- 
sessor of  the  business  and  some  new  brushes  and 
a  most  astonishing  sign  and  outfit.  He  could  not 
believe  in  his  good  luck  any  more  easily  than  the 
apple-woman  of  ancient  lineage  could  believe  in 
hers ;  he  walked  about  like  a  boot-black  in  a 
dream  ;  he  stared  at  his  young  benefactor  and  felt 
as  it  he  might  wake  up  at  any  moment.  He 
scarcely  seemed  to  realize  anything  until  Cedric 
put  out  his  hand  to  shake  hands  with  him  before 
going  away. 

"  Well,  good-bye,"  he  said  ;  and  though  he  tried 
to  speak  steadily,  there  was  a  little  tremble  in  his 
voice  and  he  winked  his  big  brown  eyes.  "  And 
I  hope  trade'll  be  good.  I'm  sorry  I'm  going 
away  to  leave  you,  but  perhaps  I  shall  come  back 
again  when  I'm  an  earl.  And  I  wish  you'd  write 
to  me,  because  we  were  always  good  friends. 
And  if  you  write  to  me,  here's  where  you  must 
send  your  letter."  And  he  gave  him  a  slip  of 
paper.  "And  my  name  isn't  Cedric  Errol  any 
more ;  it's  Lord  Fauntleroy  and — and  good-bye, 
Dick." 

Dick  winked  his  eyes  also,  and  yet  they  looked 
rather  moist  about  the  lashes.  He  was  not  an 


60  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

educated  boot-black,  and  he  would  have  found  it 
difficult  to  tell  what  he  felt  just  then  if  he  had 
tried ;  perhaps  that  was  why  he  didn't  try,  and 
only  winked  his  eyes  and  swallowed  a  lump  in  his 
throat. 

"  I  wish  ye  wasn't  goin*  away,"  he  said  in  a 
husky  voice.  Then  he  winked  his  eyes  again. 
Then  he  looked  at  Mr.  Havisham,  and  touched 
his  cap.  "Thanky,  sir,  fur  bringin'  him  down 
here  an*  fur  wot  yeVe  done.  He's — he's  a  queer 
little  feller,"  he  added.  "I've  allers  thort  a 
heap  of  him.  He's  such  a  game  little  feller,  an* 
— an'  such  a  queer  little  un." 

And  when  they  turned  away  he  stood  and 
looked  after  them  in  a  dazed  kind  of  way,  and 
there  was  still  a  mist  in  his  eyes,  and  a  lump  in 
his  throat,  as  he  watched  the  gallant  little  figure 
marching  gayly  along  by  the  side  of  its  tall,  rigid 
escort. 

Until  the  day  of  his  departure,  his  lordship 
spent  as  much  time  as  possible  with  Mr.  Hobbs  in 
the  store.  Gloom  had  settled  upon  Mr.  Hobbs ; 
he  was  much  depressed  in  spirits.  When  his 
young  friend  brought  to  him  in  triumph  the  part- 
ing gift  of  a  gold  watch  and  chain,  Mr.  Hobbs 
found  it  difficult  to  acknowledge  it  properly.  He 
laid  the  case  on  his  stout  knee,  and  blew  his  nose 
violently  several  times. 

•'  There's  something  written  on  it,"  said  Cedric. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  6x 

— "  inside  the  case.  I  told  the  man  myself  what 
to  say.  '  From  his  oldest  friend,  Lord  Fauntleroy, 
to  Mr.  Hobbs.  When  this  you  see,  remember 
me.'  I  don't  want  you  to  forget  me." 

Mr.  Hobbs  blew  his  nose  very  loudly  again. 

"  I  sha'n't  forget  you,"  he  said,  speaking  a  trifle 
huskily,  as  Dick  had  spoken ;  "  nor  don't  you  go 
and  forget  me  when  you  get  among  the  British 
arrystocracy." 

"  I  shouldn't  forget  you,  whoever  I  was  among," 
answered  his  lordship.  "  I've  spent  my  happiest 
hours  with  you ;  at  least,  some  of  my  happiest 
hours.  I  hope  you'll  come  to  see  me  sometime. 
I'm  sure  my  grandpapa  would  be  very  much 
pleased.  Perhaps  he'll  write  and  ask  you,  when 
I  tell  him  about  you.  You — you  wouldn't  mind 
his  being  an  earl,  would  you?  I  mean  you 
wouldn't  stay  away  just  because  he  was  one,  if 
he  invited  you  to  come  ?  " 

"  I'd  come  to  see  you,"  replied  Mr.  Hobbs,  gra- 
ciously. 

So  it  seemed  to  be  agreed  that  if  he  received 
a  pressing  invitation  from  the  earl  to  come  and 
spend  a  few  months  at  Dorincourt  Castle,  he  was 
to  lay  aside  his  republican  prejudices  and  pack 
his  valise  at  once. 

At  last  all  the  preparations  were  complete ;  the 
day  came  when  the  trunks  were  taken  to  the 
steamer,  and  the  hour  arrived  when  the  carriage 


62  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

stood  at  the  door.  Then  a  curious  feeling  of  lone* 
liness  came  upon  the  little  boy.  His  mamma  had 
been  shut  up  in  her  room  for  some  time ;  when 
she  came  down  the  stairs,  her  eyes  looked  large 
and  wet,  and  her  sweet  mouth  was  trembling. 
Cedric  went  to  her,  and  she  bent  down  to  him, 
and  he  put  his  arms  around  her,  and  they 
kissed  each  other.  He  knew  something  made 
them  both  sorry,  though  he  scarcely  knew  what 
it  was;  but  one  tender  little  thought  rose  to  his 
lips. 

"  We  liked  this  little  house,  Dearest,  didn't 
we  ?  "  he  said.  "  We  always  will  like  it,  won't 
we?" 

"  Yes — yes,"  she  answered,  in  a  low,  sweet  voice. 
"Yes,  darling." 

And  then  they  went  into  the  carriage  and  Cedric 
sat  very  close  to  her,  and  as  she  looked  back  out 
of  the  window,  he  looked  at  her  and  stroked  her 
hand  and  held  it  close. 

And  then,  it  seemed  almost  directly,  they  were 
on  the  steamer  in  the  midst  of  the  wildest  bustle 
and  confusion ;  carriages  were  driving  down  and 
leaving  passengers ;  passengers  were  getting  into 
a  state  of  excitement  about  baggage  which  had 
not  arrived  and  threatened  to  be  too  late ;  big 
trunks  and  cases  were  being  bumped  down  and 
dragged  about ;  sailors  were  uncoiling  ropes  and 
hurrying  to  and  fro;  officers  were  giving  orders; 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  63 

ladies  and  gentlemen  and  children  and  nurses 
were  coming  on  board, — some  were  laughing  and 
looked  gay,  some  were  silent  and  sad,  here  and 
there  two  or  three  were  crying  and  touching  their 
eyes  with  their  handkerchiefs.  Cedric  found 
something  to  interest  him  on  every  side;  he 
looked  at  the  piles  of  rope,  at  the  furled  sails,  at 
the  tall,  tall  masts  which  seemed  almost  to  touch 
the  hot  blue  sky ;  he  began  to  make  plans  for  con- 
versing with  the  sailors  and  gaining  some  infor- 
mation on  the  subject  of  pirates. 

It  was  just  at  the  very  last,  when  he  was  stand- 
ing leaning  on  the  railing  of  the  upper  deck  and 
watching  the  final  preparations,  enjoying  the 
excitement  and  the  shouts  of  the  sailors  and 
wharfmen,  that  his  attention  was  called  to  a  slight 
bustle  in  one  of  the  groups  not  far  from  him. 
Some  one  was  hurriedly  forcing  his  way  through 
this  group  and  coming  toward  him.  It  was  a 
boy,  with  something  red  in  his  hand.  It  was  Dick. 
He  came  up  to  Cedric  quite  breathless. 

"  I've  run  all  the  way,"  he  said.  "  I've  come 
down  to  see  ye  off.  Trade's  been  prime!  I 
bought  this  for  ye  out  o'  what  I  made  yesterday. 
Ye  kin  wear  it  when  ye  get  among  the  swells.  1 
lost  the  paper  when  I  was  tryin'  to  get  through 
them  fellers  downstairs.  They  didn't  want  to 
let  me  up.  It's  a  hankercher." 

He  poured  it  all  forth  as  if  in  one  sentence.     A 


64  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

bell  rang,  and  he  made  a  leap  away  before  Cedric 
had  time  to  speak. 

"  Good-bye ! "  he  panted.  "  Wear  it  when  ye 
get  among  the  swells."  And  he  darted  off  and 
was  gone. 

A  few  seconds  later  they  saw  him  struggle 
through  the  crowd  on  the  lower  deck,  and  rush 
on  shore  just  before  the  gang-plank  was  drawn  in. 
He  stood  on  the  wharf  and  waved  his  cap. 

Cedric  held  the  handkerchief  in  his  hand.  It 
was  of  bright  red  silk  ornamented  with  purple 
horseshoes  and  horses*  heads. 

There  was  a  great  straining  and  creaking  and 
confusion.  The  people  on  the  wharf  began  to 
shout  to  their  friends,  and  the  people  on  the 
steamer  shouted  back : 

"Good-bye!  Good-bye!  Good-bye,  old  fel- 
low !  "  Every  one  seemed  to  be  saying,  "  Don't 
forget  us.  Write  when  you  get  to  Liverpool. 
Good-bye!  Good-bye!" 

Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  leaned  forward  and 
waved  the  red  handkerchief. 

"  Good-bye,  Dick !  "  he  shouted,  lustily.  "  Thank 
you !  Good-bye,  Dick !  " 

And  the  big  steamer  moved  away,  and  the 
people  cheered  again,  and  Cedric's  mother  drew 
the  veil  over  her  eyes,  and  on  the  shore  there  was 
left  great  confusion  ;  but  Dick  saw  nothing  save 
that  bright,  childish  face  and  the  bright  hair  that 


DICK  BOARDS  THE  STEAMER  TO   BID   GOOD-BYE  TO  LORD   FAUNTLEROY. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  67 

the  sun  shone  on  and  the  breeze  lifted,  and  he 
heard  nothing  but  the  hearty  childish  voice  call- 
ing "  Good-bye,  Dick ! "  as  little  Lord  Fauntleroy 
steamed  slowly  away  from  the  home  of  his  birth 
to  the  unknown  land  of  his  ancestors. 


IV 

IT  was  during  the  voyage  that  Cedric's  mother 
told  him  that  his  home  was  not  to  be  hers ;  and 
when  he  first  understood  it,  his  grief  was  so  great 
that  Mr.  Havisham  saw  that  the  Earl  had  been 
wise  in  making  the  arrangements  that  his  mother 
should  be  quite  near  him,  and  see  him  often ;  for  it 
was  very  plain  he  could  not  have  borne  the  separa- 
tion otherwise.  But  his  mother  managed  the  lit- 
tle fellow  so  sweetly  and  lovingly,  and  made  him 
feel  that  she  would  be  so  near  him,  that,  after  a 
while,  he  ceased  to  be  oppressed  by  the  fear  of 
any  real  parting. 

"  My  house  is  not  far  from  the  castle,  Ceddie," 
she  repeated  each  time  the  subject  was  referred 
to — "a  very  little  way  from  yours,  and  you  can 
always  run  in  and  see  me  every  day,  and  you  will 
have  so  many  things  to  tell  me !  and  we  shall  be 
so  happy  together!  It  is  a  beautiful  place.  Your 
papa  has  often  told  me  about  it.  He  loved  it  very 
much  ;  and  you  will  love  it  too." 

"  I  should  love  it  better  if  you  were  there,"  his 
small  lordship  said,  with  a  heavy  little  sigh. 

He  could  not  but  feel  puzzled  by  so  strange  a 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  69 

state  of  affairs,  which  could  put  his  "  Dearest "  in 
one  house  and  himself  in  another. 

The  fact  was  that  Mrs.  Errol  had  thought  it 
better  not  to  tell  him  why  this  plan  had  been 
made. 

"  I  should  prefer  he  should  not  be  told,"  she 
said  to  Mr.  Havisham.  "  He  would  not  really 
understand;  he  would  only  be  shocked  and  hurt; 
and  I  feel  sure  that  his  feeling  for  the  Earl  will  be 
a  more  natural  and  affectionate  one  if  he  does  not 
know  that  his  grandfather  dislikes  me  so  bitterly. 
He  has  never  seen  hatred  or  hardness,  and  it 
would  be  a  great  blow  to  him  to  find  out  that  any 
one  could  hate  me.  He  is  so  loving  himself,  and 
I  am  so  dear  to  him  !  It  is  better  for  him  that  he 
should  not  be  told  until  he  is  much  older,  and  it 
is  far  better  for  the  Earl.  It  would  make  a  bar- 
rier between  them,  even  though  Ceddie  is  such  a 
child." 

So  Cedric  only  knew  that  there  was  some  mys- 
terious reason  for  the  arrangement,  some  reason 
which  he  was  not  old  enough  to  understand,  but 
which  would  be  explained  when  he  was  older. 
He  was  puzzled ;  but,  after  all,  it  was  not  the  rea- 
son he  cared  about  so  much ;  and  after  many  talks 
with  his  mother,  in  which  she  comforted  him  and 
placed  before  him  the  bright  side  of  the  picture, 
the  dark  side  of  it  gradually  began  to  fade  out, 
though  now  and  then  Mr.  Havisham  saw  him  sit- 


JO  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

ting  in  some  queer  little  old-fashioned  attitude, 
watching  the  sea,  with  a  very  grave  face,  and 
more  than  once  he  heard  an  unchildish  sigh  rise 
to  his  lips. 

"  I  don't  like  it,"  he  said  once  as  he  was  having 
one  of  his  almost  venerable  talks  with  the  lawyer. 
"You  don't  know  how  much  I  don't  like  it;  but 
there  are  a  great  many  troubles  in  this  world,  and 
you  have  to  bear  them.  Mary  says  so,  and  I've 
heard  Mr.  Hobbs  say  it  too.  And  Dearest  wants 
me  to  like  to  live  with  my  grandpapa,  because, 
you  see,  all  his  children  are  dead,  and  that's  very 
mournful.  It  makes  you  sorry  for  a  man,  when 
all  his  children  have  died — and  one  was  killed 
suddenly." 

One  of  the  things  which  always  delighted  the 
people  who  made  the  acquaintance  of  his  young 
lordship  was  the  sage  little  air  he  wore  at  times 
when  he  gave  himself  up  to  conversation  ; — com- 
bined  with  his  occasionally  elderly  remarks  and 
the  extreme  innocence  and  seriousness  of  his 
round  childish  face,  it  was  irresistible.  He  was 
such  a  handsome,  blooming,  curly-headed  little 
fellow,  that,  when  he  sat  down  and  nursed  his 
knee  with  his  chubby  hands,  and  conversed  with 
much  gravity,  he  was  a  source  of  great  entertain- 
ment to  his  hearers.  Gradually  Mr.  Havisham 
had  begun  to  derive  a  great  deal  of  private  pleas- 
ure and  amusement  from  his  society. 


Little  Lord  FauntUroy  71 

**  And  so  you  are  going  to  try  to  like  the  Earl," 
he  said. 

"  Yes,"  answered  his  lordship.  "  He's  my  rela- 
tion, and  of  course  you  have  to  like  your  rela- 
tions ;  and  besides,  he's  been  very  kind  to  me. 
When  a  person  does  so  many  things  for  you,  and 
wants  you  to  have  everything  you  wish  for,  of 
course  you'd  like  him  if  he  wasn't  your  relation ; 
but  when  he's  your  relation  and  does  that,  why, 
you're  very  fond  of  him." 

"  Do  you  think,"  suggested  Mr.  Havisham, 
"  that  he  will  be  fond  of  you  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Cedric,  "  I  think  he  will,  because, 
you  see,  I'm  his  relation,  too,  and  I'm  his  boy's 
little  boy  besides,  and,  well,  don't  you  see — of 
course  he  must  be  fond  of  me  now,  or  he  wouldn't 
want  me  to  have  everything  that  I  like,  and  he 
wouldn't  have  sent  you  for  me." 

"  Oh!'*  remarked  the  lawyer,  •«  that's  it,  is  it?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Cedric,  "  that's  it.  Don't  you  think 
that's  it,  too  ?  Of  course  a  man  would  be  fond  of 
his  grandson." 

The  people  who  had  been  seasick  had  no  sooner 
recovered  from  their  seasickness,  and  come  on  deck 
to  recline  in  their  steamer-chairs  and  enjoy  them- 
selves, than  every  one  seemed  to  know  the  roman- 
tic story  of  little  Lord  Fauntleroy,  and  every  one 
took  an  interest  in  the  little  fellow,  who  ran  about 
the  ship  or  walked  with  his  mother  or  the  tall, 


72  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

thin  old  lawyer,  or  talked  to  the  sailors.  Every 
one  liked  him  ;  he  made  friends  everywhere.  He 
was  ever  ready  to  make  friends.  When  the  gen- 
tlemen walked  up  and  down  the  deck,  and  let  him 
walk  with  them,  he  stepped  out  with  a  manly, 
sturdy  little  tramp,  and  answered  all  their  jokes 
with  much  gay  enjoyment ;  when  the  ladies  talked 
to  him,  there  was  always  laughter  in  the  group  of 
which  he  was  the  centre;  when  he  played  with 
the  children,  there  was  always  magnificent  fun  on 
hand.  Among  the  sailors  he  had  the  heartiest 
friends ;  he  heard  miraculous  stories  about  pirates 
and  shipwrecks  and  desert  islands ;  he  learned  to 
splice  ropes  and  rig  toy  ships,  and  gained  an 
amount  of  information  concerning  "  tops'ls  "  and 
"mains'ls,"  quite  surprising.  His  conversation 
had,  indeed,  quite  a  nautical  flavor  at  times,  and 
on  one  occasion  he  raised  a  shout  of  laughter  in  a 
group  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  were  sitting 
on  deck,  wrapped  in  shawls  and  overcoats,  by 
saying  sweetly,  and  with  a  very  engaging  expres- 
sion: 

"  Shiver  my  timbers,  but  it's  a  cold  day ! " 
It  surprised  him  when  they  laughed.  He  had 
picked  up  this  sea-faring  remark  from  an  "  elderly 
naval  man  "  of  the  name  of  Jerry,  who  told  him 
stories  in  which  it  occurred  frequently.  To  judge 
from  his  stories  of  his  own  adventures,  Jerry 
had  made  some  two  or  three  thousand  voyages, 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  73 

and  had  been  invariably  shipwrecked  on  each  oc- 
casion on  an  island  densely  populated  with  blood- 
thirsty cannibals.  Judging,  also,  by  these  same 
exciting  adventures,  he  had  been  partially  roasted 
and  eaten  frequently  and  had  been  scalped  some 
fifteen  or  twenty  times. 

"  That  is  why  he  is  so  bald,"  explained  Lord 
Fauntleroj/  to  his  mamma.  "  After  you  have  been 
scalped  several  times  the  hair  never  grows  again. 
Jerry's  never  grew  again  after  that  last  time, 
when  the  King  of  the  Parromachaweekins  did  it 
with  the  knife  made  out  of  the  skull  of  the  Chief 
of  the  Wopslemumpkies.  He  says  it  was  one  of 
the  most  serious  times  he  ever  had.  He  was  so 
frightened  that  his  hair  stood  right  straight  up 
when  the  king  flourished  his  knife,  and  it  never 
would  lie  down,  and  the  king  wears  it  that  way 
now,  and  it  looks  something  like  a  hair-brush.  I 
never  heard  anything  like  the  asperiences  Jerry 
has  had!  I  should  so  like  to  tell  Mr.  Hobbs 
about  them ! " 

Sometimes,  when  the  weather  was  very  dis- 
agreeable and  people  were  kept  below  decks  in 
the  saloon,  a  party  of  his  grown-up  friends  would 
persuade  him  to  tell  them  some  of  these  "  asperi- 
ences "  of  Jerry's,  and  as  he  sat  relating  them 
with  great  delight  and  fervor,  there  was  certainly 
no  more  popular  voyager  on  any  ocean  steamer 
crossing  the  Atlantic  than  little  Lord  Fauntleroy. 


74 


Lord  Fauntleroy 


He  was  always  innocently  and  good-naturedly 
ready  to  do  his  small  best  to  add  to  the  general 
entertainment,  and  there  was  a  charm  in  the  very 

unconsciousness  of  his  own 
childish  importance. 

"Jerry's  stories  int'rust 
them  very  much,"  he  said 
to  his  mamma.    "  For  ray 
part — you  must  excuse  me, 
Dearest — but  sometimes  I 
should  have  thought  they 
couldn't  be  all  quite  true, 
if  they  hadn't  hap- 
pened  to  Jerry  him- 
self;  but  as  they  all 
happened    to   Jerry 
—  well,  it's  very 
strange,  you  know, 
and    perhaps   some, 
times  he  may  forget 
and  be  a  little  mis- 
taken,  as  he's  been 
scalped   so  often. 

JERRY   NARRATES    SOME  OF  HIS  AD-     Beinff     scalped    a 

VENTURES. 

great  many  times 
might  make  a  person  forgetful." 

It  was  eleven  days  after  he  had  said  good-bye 
to  his  friend  Dick  before  he  reached  Liverpool ; 
and  it  was  on  the  night  of  the  tweltth  day  that 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  75 

the  carriage  in  which  he  and  his  mother  and  Mr. 
Havisham  had  driven  from  the  station  stopped 
before  the  gates  of  Court  Lodge.  They  could 
not  see  much  of  the  house  in  the  darkness.  Ced- 
ric  only  saw  that  there  was  a  drive  -  way  under 
great  arching  trees,  and  after  the  carriage  had 
rolled  down  this  drive-way  a  short  distance,  he 
saw  an  open  door  and  a  stream  of  bright  light 
coming  through  it. 

Mary  had  come  with  them  to  attend  her  mis- 
tress, and  she  had  reached  the  house  before  them. 
When  Cedric  jumped  out  of  the  carriage  he  saw 
one  or  two  servants  standing  in  the  wide,  bright 
hall,  and  Mary  stood  in  the  door-way. 

Lord  Fauntleroy  sprang  at  her  with  a  gay  lit- 
tle shout. 

"  Did  you  get  here,  Mary  r  '  he  said.  "  Here's 
Mary,  Dearest,"  and  he  kissed  the  maid  on  her 
rough  red  cheek. 

"  I  am  glad  you  are  here,  Mary,"  Mrs.  Errol 
said  to  her  in  a  low  voice.  "  It  is  such  a  comfort 
to  me  to  see  you.  It  takes  the  strangeness  away.*' 
And  she  held  out  her  little  hand,  which  Mary 
squeezed  encouragingly.  She  knew  how  this 
first  "strangeness"  must. feel  to  this  little  mother 
who  had  left  her  own  land  and  was  about  to  give 
up  her  child. 

The  English  servants  looked  with  curiosity  at 
both  the  boy  and  his  mother.  They  had  heard 


76  Little  Lord  Fauntteroy 

all  sorts  of  rumors  about  them  both  ;  they  knew 
how  angry  the  old  Earl  had  been,  and  why  Mrs. 
Errol  was  to  live  at  the  lodge  and  her  little  boy 
at  the  castle ;  they  knew  all  about  the  great  for. 
tune  he  was  to  inherit,  and  about  the  savage  old 
grandfather  and  his  gout  and  his  tempers. 

"He'll  have  no  easy  time  of  it,  poor  little 
chap,"  they  had  said  among  themselves. 

But  they  did  not  know  what  sort  of  a  little 
lord  had  come  among  them ;  they  did  not  quite 
understand  the  character  of  the  next  Earl  of  Dor. 
incourt. 

He  pulled  off  his  overcoat  quite  as  if  he  were 
used  to  doing  things  for  himself,  and  began  to 
look  about  him.  He  looked  about  the  broad  hall, 
at  the  pictures  and  stags'  antlers  and  curious 
things  that  ornamented  it.  They  seemed  curi- 
ous to  him  because  he  had  never  seen  such  things 
before  in  a  private  house. 

"Dearest,"  he  said,  "this  is  a  very  pretty 
house,  isn't  it  ?  I  am  glad  you  are  going  to  live 
here.  It's  quite  a  large  house." 

It  was  quite  a  large  house  compared  to  the  one 
in  the  shabby  New  York  street,  and  it  was  very 
pretty  and  cheerful.  Mary  led  them  upstairs  to 
a  bright  chintz-hung  bedroom  where  a  fire  was 
burning,  and  a  large  snow-white  Persian  cat  was 
sleeping  luxuriously  on  the  white  fur  hearth-rug. 

44  It  was  the    house-kaper  up  at   the  Castle, 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  77 

ma'am,  sint  her  to  yez,"  explained  Mary.  "  It's 
herself  is  a  kind-hearted  lady  an*  has  had  ivery- 
thing  done  to  prepar'  fur  yez.  I  seen  her  meself 
a  few  minnits,  an*  she  was  fond  av  the  Capt'in, 
ma'am,  an*  graivs  fur  him  ;  and  she  said  to  say 
the  big  cat  slapin*  on  the  rug  moight  make  the 
room  same  homeloike  to  yez.  She  knowed 
Capt'in  Errol  whin  he  was  a  bye — an*  a  foine 
handsum'  bye  she  ses  he  was,  an'  a  foine  young 
man  wid  a  plisint  word  fur  every  one,  great  an* 
shmall.  An'  ses  I  to  her,  ses  I :  *  He's  lift  a  bye 
that's  loike  him,  ma'am,  fur  a  foiner  little  felly 
niver  sthipped  in  shoe-leather.'  " 

When  they  were  ready,  they  went  downstairs 
into  another  big  bright  room  ;  its  ceiling  was  low, 
and  the  furniture  was  heavy  and  beautifully 
carved,  the  chairs  were  deep  and  had  high  mas- 
sive backs,  and  there  were  queer  shelves  and 
cabinets  with  strange,  pretty  ornaments  on  them. 
There  was  a  great  tiger-skin  before  the  fire,  and 
an  arm-chair  on  each  side  of  it.  The  stately 
white  cat  had  responded  to  Lord  Fauntleroy's 
stroking  and  follower  him.  downstairs,  and  when 
he  threw  himself  down  upon  the  rug,  she  curled 
herself  up  grandly  beside  him  as  if  she  intended 
to  make  friends.  Cedric  was  so  pleased  that  he 
put  his  head  down  by  hers,  and  lay  stroking  her, 
not  noticing  what  his  mother  and  Mr.  Havisham 
were  saying. 


?8  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

They  were,  indeed,  speaking  in  a  rather  low 
tone.  Mrs.  Errol  looked  a  little  pale  and  agitated. 

"  He  need  not  go  to-night  ?  "  she  said.  "  He 
will  stay  with  me  to-night  ?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Mr.  Havisham  in  the  same 
low  tone ;  "  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  him  to 
go  to-night.  I  myself  will  go  to  the  castle  as 
soon  as  we  have  dined,  and  inform  the  Earl  of 
our  arrival." 

Mrs.  Errol  glanced  down  at  Cedric.  He  was 
lying  in  a  graceful,  careless  attitude  upon  the 
black-and-yellow  skin ;  the  fire  shone  on  his  hand- 
some, flushed  little  face,  and  on  the  tumbled, 
curly  hair  spread  out  on  the  rug ;  the  big  cat  was 
purring  in  drowsy  content, — she  liked  the  caress- 
ing touch  of  the  kind  little  hand  on  her  fur. 

Mrs.  Errol  smiled  faintly. 

"  His  lordship  does  not  know  all  that  he  is  tak- 
ing from  me,"  she  said  rather  sadly.  Then  she 
looked  at  the  lawyer.  "  Will  you  tell  him,  if  you 
please,"  she  said,  '^  that  I  should  rather  not  have 
the  money  ?  " 

;  "The  money!"  Mr.  Havisham  exclaimed. 
"  You  cannot  mean  the  income  he  proposed  to 
settle  upon  you  ! " 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  quite  simply;  "I  think  I 
should  rather  not  have  it.  I  am  obliged  to  ac- 
eept  the  house>  and  I  thank  him  for  it,  because  it 
makes  it  possible  for  me  to  be  near  my  child  ;  but 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  81 

I  have  a  little  money  of  my  own, — enough  to  live 
simply  upon, — and  J.  should  rather  not  take  the 
other.  As  he  dislikes  me  so  much,  I  should  feel 
a  little  as  if  I  were  selling  Cedric  to  him.  1  am 
giving  him  up  only  because  I  love  him  enough  to 
forget  myself  for  his  good,  and  because  his  father 
would  wish  it  to  be  so." 

Mr.  Havisham  rubbed  his  chin. 

"  This  is  very  strange,"  he  said.  "  He  will  be 
very  angry.  He  won't  understand  it." 

"  I  think  he  will  understand  it  after  he  thinks  it 
over,"  she  said.  "  I  do  not  really  need  the  money, 
and  why  should  I  accept  luxuries  from  the  man 
who  hates  me  so  much  that  he  takes  my  little  boy 
from  me — his  son's  child  ?  " 

Mr.  Havisham  looked  reflective  for  a  few  mo. 
ments. 

"  I  will  deliver  your  message,"  he  said  after 
ward. 

And  then  the  dinner  was  brought  in  and  they 
sat  down  together,  the  big  cat  taking  a  seat  on 
a  chair  near  Cedric's  and  purring  majestically 
throughout  the  meal. 

When,  later  in  the  evening,  Mr.  Havisham  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  castle,  he  was  taken  at  once 
to  the  Earl.  He  found  him  sitting  by  the  fire  in 
a  luxurious  easy-chair,  his  foot  on  a  gout-stool. 
He  looked  at  the  lawyer  sharply  from  under  his 
shaggy  eyebrows,  but  Mr.  Havisham  could  see 


82  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

that,  in  spite  of  his  pretence  at  calmness,  he  was 
nervous  and  secretly  excited. 

"  Well,"  he  said  ;  "  well,  Havisham,  come  back, 
have  you  ?  What's  the  news?  " 

"  Lord  Fauntleroy  and  his  mother  are  at  Court 
Lodge,"  replied  Mr.  Havisham.  "  They  bore  the 
voyage  very  well  and  are  in  excellent  health." 

The  Earl  made  a  half -impatient  sound  and 
moved  his  hand  restlessly. 

"  Glad  to  hear  it,"  he  said  brusquely.  "  So  far, 
so  good.  Make  yourself  comfortable.  Have 
a  glass  of  wine  and  settle  down.  What  else  ?  " 

"  His  lordship  remains  with  his  mother  to-night. 
To-morrow  I  will  bring  him  to  the  castle." 

The  Earl's  elbow  was  resting  on  the  arm  of  his 
chair ;  he  put  his  hand  up  and  shielded  his  eyes 
with  it. 

"Well,"  he  said;  "go  on.  You  know  I  told 
you  not  to  write  to  me  about  the  matter,  and  I 
know  nothing  whatever  about  it.  What  kind  of 
a  lad  is  he  ?  I  don't  care  about  the  mother ;  what 
sort  of  a  lad  is  he  ?  " 

Mr.  Havisham  drank  a  little  of  the  glass  of  port 
he  had  poured  out  for  himself,  and  sat  holding 
it  in  his  hand. 

"  It  is  rather  difficult  to  judge  of  the  character 
of  a  child  of  seven,"  he  said  cautiously. 

The  Earl's  prejudices  were  very  intense.  He 
looked  up  quickly  and  uttered  a  rough  word, 


Little  Lord  Fauntteroy  83 

«  A  fool,  is  he?"  he  exclaimed.  "  Or  a  clumsy 
cub  ?  His  American  blood  tells,  does  it  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  think  it  has  injured  him,  my  lord," 
replied  the  lawyer  in  his  dry,  deliberate  fashion. 
"  I  don't  know  much  about  children,  but  1 
thought  him  rather  a  fine  lad." 

His  manner  of  speech  was  always  deliberate 
and  unenthusiastic,  but  he  made  it  a  trifle  more 
so  than  usual.  He  had  a  shrewd  fancy  that  it 
would  be  better  that  the  Earl  should  judge  for 
himself,  and  be  quite  unprepared  for  his  first 
interview  with  his  grandson. 

"  Healthy  and  well-grown  ?  "  asked  my  lord. 

"Apparently  very  healthy,  and  quite  well- 
grown,"  replied  the  lawyer. 

"  Straight-limbed  and  well  enough  to  look  at?" 
demanded  the  Earl. 

A  very  slight  smile  touched  Mr.  Havisham's 
thin  lips.  There  rose  up  before  his  mind's  eye 
the  picture  he  had  left  at  Court  Lodge, — the 
beautiful,  graceful  child's  body  lying  upon  the 
tiger-skin  in  careless  comfort — the  bright,  turn- 
bled  hair  spread  on  the  rug — the  bright,  rosy, 
boy's  face. 

"  Rather  a  handsome  boy,  I  think,  my  lord,  as 
boys  go,"  he  said,  "  though  I  am  scarcely  a  judge, 
perhaps.  But  you  will  find  him  somewhat  dif- 
ferent from  most  English  children,  I  dare  say." 

<k  I  haven't  a  doubt  of  that,"  snarled  the  Earl, 


84  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

a  twinge  of  gout  seizing  him.  "  A  lot  of  impu^ 
dent  little  beggars,  those  American  children  ;  I've 
heard  that  often  enough." 

"  It  is  not  exactly  impudence  in  his  case,"  said 
Mr.  Havisham.  "  I  can  scarcely  describe  what 
the  difference  is.  He  has  lived  more  with  older 
people  than  with  children,  and  the  difference 
seems  to  be  a  mixture  of  maturity  and  childish, 
ness." 

"American  impudence!"  protested  the  Earl. 
"  I've  heard  of  it  before.  They  call  it  precocity 
and  freedom.  Beastly,  impudent  bad  manners; 
that's  what  it  is  !  " 

Mr.  Havisham  drank  some  more  port.  He 
seldom  argued  with  his  lordly  patron,  —  never 
when  his  lordly  patron's  noble  leg  was  inflamed 
by  gout.  At  such  times  it  was  always  better  to 
leave  him  alone.  So  there  was  a  silence  of  a  few 
moments.  It  was  Mr.  Havisham  who  broke  it. 

"  I  have  a  message  to  deliver  from  Mrs.  Errol," 
he  remarked. 

"  I  don't  want  any  of  her  messages ! "  growled 
his  lordship;  "the  less  I  hear  of  her  the  bet- 
ter." 

"  This  is  a  rather  important  one,"  explained  the 
lawyer.  "  She  prefers  not  to  accept  the  income 
you  proposed  to  settle  on  her." 

The  Earl  started  visibly. 

"  What's  that ?  "  he  cried  out     "  What's  that? " 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  85 

Mr.  Havisham  repeated  his  words. 

"  She  says  it  is  not  necessary,  and  that  as  the 
relations  between  you  are  not  friendly " 

"  Not  friendly  !  "  ejaculated  my  lord  savagely  ; 
"  I  should  say  they  were  not  friendly  !  I  hate  to 
think  of  her !  A  mercenary,  sharp-voiced  Ameri- 
can !  I  don't  wish  to  see  her." 

"  My  lord,"  said  Mr.  Havisham,  "  you  can 
scarcely  call  her  mercenary.  She  has  asked  for 
nothing.  She  does  not  accept  the  money  you 
offer  her." 

"  All  done  for  effect ! "  snapped  his  noble  lord- 
ship.  "  She  wants  to  wheedle  me  into  seeing  her. 
She  thinks  I  shall  admire  her  spirit.  I  don't  ad- 
mire it !  It's  only  American  independence !  I 
won't  have  her  living  like  a  beggar  at  my  park 
gates.  As  she's  the  boy's  mother,  she  has  a 
position  to  keep  up,  and  she  shall  keep  it  up. 
She  shall  have  the  money,  whether  she  likes  it 
or  not ! " 

"  She  won't  spend  it,"  said  Mr.  Havisham. 

"  I  don't  care  whether  she  spends  it  or  not ! " 
blustered  my  lord.  "  She  shall  have  it  sent  to 
her.  She  sha'n't  tell  people  that  she  has  to  live 
like  a  pauper  because  I  have  done  nothing  for 
her !  She  wants  to  give  the  boy  a  bad  opinion  of 
me !  I  suppose  she  has  poisoned  his  mind  against 
me  already ! " 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  Havisham.    "  I  have  another 


86  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

message,  which  will  prove  to  you  that  she  has  not 
done  that." 

"  I  don't  want  to  hear  it ! "  panted  the  Earl,  out 
of  breath  with  anger  and  excitement  and  gout. 

But  Mr.  Havisham  delivered  it. 

"  She  asks  you  not  to  let  Lord  Fauntleroy  hear 
anything  which  would  lead  him  to  understand 
that  you  separate  him  from  her  because  of  your 
prejudice  against  her.  He  is  very  fond  of  her, 
and  she  is  convinced  that  it  would  cause  a  barrier 
to  exist  between  you.  She  says  he  would  not 
comprehend  it,  and  it  might  make  him  fear  you 
in  some  measure,  or  at  least  cause  him  to  feel  less 
affection  for  you.  She  has  told  him  that  he  is  too 
young  to  understand  the  reason,  but  shall  hear  it 
when  he  is  older.  She  wishes  that  there  should 
be  no  shadow  on  your  first  meeting." 

The  Earl  sank  back  into  his  chair.  His  deep- 
set  fierce  old  eyes  gleamed  under  his  beetling 
brows. 

"Come,  now!"  he  said,  still  breathlessly. 
"  Come,  now !  You  don't  mean  the  mother  hasn't 
told  him?" 

"  No*  one  word,  my  lord,"  replied  the  lawyer 
coolly  'That  I  can  assure  you.  The  child  is 
prepared  to  believe  you  the  most  amiable  and  af- 
fectionate of  grandparents.  Nothing — absolutely 
nothing  has  been  said  to  him  to  give  him  the 
slightest  doubt  of  your  perfection.  And  as  I  car. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  87 

ried  out  your  commands  in  every  detail,  while  in 
New  York,  he  certainly  regards  you  as  a  wonder 
of  generosity." 

"  He  does,  eh  ?  "  said  the  Earl. 

"  I  give  you  my  word  of  honor,"  said  Mr. 
Havisham,  "  that  Lord  Fauntleroy's  impressions 
of  you  will  depend  entirely  upon  yourself.  And  if 
you  will  pardon  the  liberty  I  take  in  making  the 
suggestion,  I  think  you  will  succeed  better  with 
him  if  you  take  the  precaution  not  to  speak  slight- 
ingly of  his  mother." 

"  Pooh,  pooh ! "  said  the  Earl.  "  The  youngster 
is  only  seven  years  old ! " 

"  He  has  spent  those  seven  years  at  his  mother's 
side,"  returned  Mr.  Havisham  ;  "  and  she  has  all 
his  affection." 


IT  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  the  carriage 
containing  little  Lord  Fauntleroy  and  Mr.  Havi- 
sham  drove  up  the  long  avenue  which  led  to  the 
castle.  The  Earl  had  given  orders  that  his  grand- 
son should  arrive  in  time  to  dine  with  him ;  and 
for  some  reason  best  known  to  himself,  he  had 
also  ordered  that  the  child  should  be  sent  alone 
into  the  room  in  which  he  in'tcnded  to  receive 
him.  As  the  carriage  rolled  up  the  avenue,  Lord 
Fauntleroy  sat  leaning  comfortably  against  the 
luxurious  cushions,  and  regarded  the  prospect 
with  great  interest.  He  was,  in  fact,  interested 
in  everything  he  saw.  He  had  been  interested  in 
the  carriage,  with  its  large,  splendid  horses  and 
their  glittering  harness;  he  had  been  interested 
in  the  tall  coachman  and  footman,  with  their  re- 
splendent livery ;  and  he  had  been  especially  in- 
terested  in  the  coronet  on  the  panels,  and  had 
struck  up  an  acquaintance  with  the  footman  for 
the  purpose  of  inquiring  what  it  meant. 

When  the  carriage  reached  the  great  gates  of 
the  park,  he  looked  out  of  the  window  to  get  a 
good  view  of  the  huge  stone  lions  ornamenting 


THE  GATES  WERE  OPENED  BY   A  WOMAN   AND  TWO   CHILDREN  WHO 
CAME  OUT  OF  A  PRETTY  IVY-COVERED  LODGR." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  91 

the  entrance.  The  gates  were  opened  by  a 
motherly,  rosy-looking  woman,  who  came  out  of 
a  pretty,  ivy-covered  lodge.  Two  children  ran 
out  of  the  door  of  the  house  and  stood  looking 
with  round,  wide-open  eyes  at  the  little  boy  in  the 
carriage,  who  looked  at  them  also.  Their  mother 
stood  courtesying  and  smiling,  and  the  children, 
on  receiving  a  sign  from  her,  made  bobbing  little 
courtesies  too. 

"  Does  she  know  me?"  asked  Lord  Fauntleroy. 
"  I  think  she  must  think  she  knows  me.*'  And  he 
took  off  his  black  velvet  cap  to  her  and  smiled. 

"  How  do  you  do? "  he  said  brightly.  " Good- 
afternoon  ! " 

The  woman  seemed  pleased,  he  thought.  The 
smile  broadened  on  her  rosy  face  and  a  kind  look 
came  into  her  blue  eyes. 

"  God  bless  your  lordship !  "  she  said.  "  God 
bless  your  pretty  face !  Good  luck  and  happi- 
ness to  your  lordship  !  Welcome  to  you !" 

Lord  Fauntleroy  waved  his  cap  and  nodded  to 
her  again  as  the  carriage  rolled  by  her. 

"  I  like  that  woman,"  he  said.  "She  looks  as  if 
she  liked  boys.  I  should  like  to  come  here  and 
play  with  her  children.  I  wonder  if  she  has 
enough  to  make  up  a  company  ?  " 

Mr.  Havisham  did  not  tell  him  that  he  would 
scarcely  be  allowed  to  make  playmates  of  the 
gate-keeper's  children.  The  lawyer  thought  there 


92  Ltttfe  Lord  Fauntleroy 

was  time   enough  for  giving  him  that  informa- 
tion. 

The  carriage  rolled  on  and  on  between  the 
great,  beautiful  trees  which  grew  on  each  side  of 
the  avenue  and  stretched  their  broad,  swaying 
branches  in  an  arch  across  it.  Cedric  had  never 
seen  such  trees, — they  were  so  grand  and  stately, 
and  their  branches  grew  so  low  down  on  their 
huge  trunks.  He  did  not  then  know  that  Dorin- 
court  Castle  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  all 
England;  that  its  park  was  one  of  the  broadest 
and  finest,  and  its  trees  and  avenue  almost  with- 
out rivals.  But  he  did  know  that  it  was  all  very 
beautiful.  He  liked  the  big,  broad  -  branched 
trees,  with  the  late  afternoon  sunlight  striking 
golden  lances  through  them.  He  liked  the  per- 
fect stillness  which  rested  on  everything.  He 
felt  a  great,  strange  pleasure  in  the  beauty  of 
which  he  caught  glimpses  under  and  between  the 
sweeping  boughs — the  great,  beautiful  spaces  of 
the  park,  with  still  other  trees  standing  some- 
times stately  and  alone,  and  sometimes  in  groups. 
Now  and  then  they  passed  places  where  tall  ferns 
grew  in  masses,  and  again  and  again  the  ground 
was  azure  with  the  bluebells  swaying  in  the  soft 
breeze.  Several  times  he  started  up  with  a  laugh 
of  delight  as  a  rabbit  leaped  up  from  under  the 
greenery  and  scudded  away  with  a  twinkle  of 
short  white  tail  behind  it.  Once  a  covey  of  par- 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  93 

tridges  rose  with  a  sudden  whir  and  flew  away, 
and  then  ne  shouted  and  clapped  his  hands. 

"It's  a  beautiful  place,  isn't  it?"  he  said  to 
Mr.  Havisham.  "  I  never  saw  such  a  beautiful 
place.  It's  prettier  even  than  Central  Park." 

He  was  rather  puzzled  by  the  length  of  time 
they  were  on  their  way. 

"  How  far  is  it,"  he  said,  at  length,  "from  the 
gate  to  the  front  door?" 

"  It  is  between  three  and  four  miles,"  answered 
the  lawyer. 

"  That's  a  long  way  for  a  person  to  live  from 
his  gate,"  remarked  his  lordship. 

Every  few  minutes  he  saw  something  new  to 
wonder  at  and  admire.  When  he  caught  sight 
of  the  deer,  some  couched  in  the  grass,  some 
standing  with  their  pretty  antlered  heads  turned 
with  a  half -startled  air  toward  the  avenue  as 
the  carriage  wheels  disturbed  them,  he  was  en- 
chanted. 

"  Has  there  been  a  circus  ?  "  he  cried  ;  "  or  do 
they  live  here  always  ?  Whose  are  they  ?  " 

"They  live  here,"  Mr.  Havisham  told  him. 
"  They  belong  to  the  Earl,  your  grandfather." 

It  was  not  long  after  this  that  they  saw  the 
castle.  It  rose  up  before  them  stately  and  beauti- 
ful and  gray,  the  last  rays  of  the  sun  casting  daz- 
zling lights  on  its  many  windows.  It  had  turrets 
and  battlements  and  towers ;  a  great  deal  of  ivy 


94  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

grew  upon  its  walls ;  all  the  broad,  open  space 
about  it  was  laid  out  in  terraces  and  lawns  and 
beds  of  brilliant  flowers. 

"  It's  the  most  beautiful  place  I  ever  saw ! " 
said  Cedric,  his  round  face  flushing  with  pleasure. 
"  It  reminds  any  one  of  a  king's  palace.  I  saw  a 
picture  of  one  once  in  a  fairy-book." 

He  saw  the  great  entrance-door  thrown  open 
and  many  servants  standing  in  two  lines  looking 
at  him.  He  wondered  why  they  were  standing 
there,  and  admired  their  liveries  very  much.  He 
did  not  know  that  they  were  there  to  do  honor 
to  the  little  boy  to  whom  all  this  splendor  would 
one  day  belong, — the  beautiful  castle  like  the 
fairy  king's  palace,  the  magnificent  park,  the 
grand  old  trees,  the  dells  full  of  ferns  and  blue- 
bells where  the  hares  and  rabbits  played,  the 
dappled,  large-eyed  deer  couching  in  the  deep 
grass.  It  was  only  a  couple  of  weeks  since  he 
had  sat  with  Mr.  Hobbs  among  the  potatoes  and 
canned  peaches,  with  his  legs  dangling  from  the 
high  stool ;  it  would  not  have  been  possible  for 
him  to  realize  that  he  had  very  much  to  do  with 
all  this  grandeur.  At  the  head  of  the  line  of  ser- 
vants there  stood  an  elderly  woman  in  a  rich, 
plain  black  silk  gown ;  she  had  gray  hair  and 
wore  a  cap.  As  he  entered  the  hall  she  stood 
nearer  than  the  rest,  and  the  child  thought  from 
the  *pok  in  her  eyes  that  she  was  going  to  speak 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  95 

to  him.  Mr.  Havisham,  who  held  his  hand,  paused 
a  moment. 

"  This  is  Lord  Fauntleroy,  Mrs.  Mellon,"  he 
said.  "  Lord  Fauntleroy,  this  is  Mrs.  Mellon,  who 
is  the  housekeeper." 

Cedric  gave  her  his  hand,  his  eyes  lighting  up. 

"  Was  it  you  who  sent  the  cat  ?  "  he  said.  "  I'm 
much  obliged  to  you,  ma'am." 

Mrs.  Mellon's  handsome  old  lace  looked  as 
pleased  as  the  face  of  the  lodge-keeper's  wife  had 
done. 

"  I  should  know  his  lordship  anywhere,"  she 
said  to  Mr.  Havisham.  "  He  has  the  Captain's 
face  and  way.  It's  a  great  day,  this,  sir." 

Cedric  wondered  why  it  was  a  great  day.  He 
looked  at  Mrs.  Mellon  curiously.  It  seemed  to 
him  for  a  moment  as  if  there  were  tears  in  her 
eyes,  and  yet  it  was  evident  she  was  not  un- 
happy. She  smiled  down  on  him. 

"  The  cat  left  two  beautiful  kittens  here,"  she 
said ;  "  they  shall  be  sent  up  to  your  lordship's 
nursery." 

Mr.  Havisham  said  a  few  words  to  her  in  a  low 
voice. 

"In  the  library,  sir,"  Mrs.  Mellon  replied. 
"  His  lordship  is  to  be  taken  there  alone." 

A  few  minutes  later,  the  very  tall  footman  in 
livery,  who  had  escorted  Cedric  to  the  library 


96  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

door,  opened  it  and  announced :  "  Lord  Fauntie- 
roy,  my  lord,"  in  quite  a  majestic  tone.  If  he 
was  only  a  footman,  he  felt  it  was  rather  a  grand 
occasion  when  the  heir  came  home  to  his  own 
land  and  possessions,  and  was  ushered  into  the 
presence  of  the  old  Earl,  whose  place  and  title  he 
was  to  take. 

Cedric  crossed  the  threshold  into  the  room.  It 
was  a  very  large  and  splendid  room,  with 
massive  carven  furniture  in  it,  and  shelves  upon 
shelves  of  books;  the  furniture  was  so  dark, 
and  the  draperies  so  heavy,  the  diamond-paned 
windows  were  so  deep,  and  it  seemed  such  a  dis- 
tance from  one  end  of  it  to  the  other,  that,  since  the 
sun  had  gone  down,  the  effect  of  it  all  was  rather 
gloomy.  For  a  moment  Cedric  thought  there 
was  nobody  in  the  room,  but  soon  he  saw  that  by 
the  fire  burning  on  the  wide  hearth  there  was  a 
large  easy-chair  and  that  in  that  chair  some  one 
was  sitting — some  one  who  did  not  at  first  turn 
to  look  at  him. 

But  he  had  attracted  attention  in  one  quarter 
at  least.  On  the  floor,  by  the  arm-chair,  lay  a 
dog,  a  huge  tawny  mastiff,  with  body  and  limbs 
almost  as  big  as  a  lion's  ;  and  this  great  creature 
rose  majestically  and  slowly,  and  marched  toward 
the  little  fellow  with  a  heavy  step. 

Then  the  person  in  the  chair  spoke.  "  Dougal," 
he  called,  "  come  back,  sir." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  97 

But  there  was  no  more  fear  in  little  Lord 
Fauntleroy's  heart  than  there  was  unkindness 
— he  had  been  a  brave  little  fellow  all  his  life. 
He  put  his  hand  on  the  big  dog's  collar  in 
the  most  natural  way  in  the  world,  and  they 
strayed  forward  together,  Dougal  sniffing  as  he 
went. 

And  then  the  Earl  looked  up.  What  Cedric 
saw  was  a  large  old  man  with  shaggy  white 
hair  and  eyebrows,  and  a  nose  like  an  eagle's 
beak  between  his  deep,  fierce  eyes.  What  the 
Earl  saw  was  a  graceful,  childish  figure  in  a  black 
velvet  suit,  with  a  lace  collar,  and  with  love-locks 
waving  about  the  handsome,  manly  little  face, 
whose  eyes  met  his  with  a  look  of  innocent  good- 
fellowship.  If  the  castle  was  like  the  palace  in  a 
fairy  story,  it  must  be  owned  that  little  Lord 
Fauntleroy  was  himself  rather  like  a  small  copy 
of  the  fairy  prince,  though  he  was  not  at  all  aware 
of  the  fact,  and  perhaps  was  rather  a  sturdy 
young  model  of  a  fairy.  But  there  was  a  sudden 
glow  of  triumph  and  exultation  in  the  fiery  old 
Earl's  heart  as  he  saw  what  a  strong,  beautiful 
boy  this  grandson  was,  and  how  unhesitatingly 
he  looked  up  as  he  stood  with  his  hand  on  the 
big  dog's  neck.  It  pleased  the  grim  old  noble- 
man that  the  child  should  show  no  shyness  or 
fear,  either  of  the  dog  or  of  himself. 

Cedric  looked  at  him  just  as  he  had  looked  at 


98  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

the  woman  at  the  lodge  and  at  the  housekeeper, 
and  came  quite  close  to  him. 

"  Are  you  the  Earl  ?  "  he  said.  "  I'm  your 
grandson,  you  know,  that  Mr.  Havisham  brought. 
I'm  Lord  Fauntleroy  .** 

He  held  out  his  hand  because  he  thought  it 
must  be  the  polite  and  proper  thing  to  do  even 
with  earls.  "  I  hope  you  are  very  well,"  he  con- 
tinued, with  the  utmost  friendliness.  "  I'm  very 
glad  to  see  you." 

The  Earl  shook  hands  with  him,  with  a  curious 
gleam  in  his  eyes ;  just  at  first,  he  was  so  aston- 
ished that  he  scarcely  knew  what  to  say.  He 
stared  at  the  picturesque  little  apparition  from 
under  his  shaggy  brows,  and  took  it  all  in  from 
head  to  foot. 

"  Glad  to  see  me,  are  you  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Lord  Fauntleroy,  "  very." 

There  was  a  chair  near  him,  and  he  sat  down  on 
it ;  it  was  a  high-backed,  rather  tall  chair,  and  his 
feet  did  not  touch  the  floor  when  he  had  settled 
himself  in  it,  but  he  seemed  to  be  quite  comfort- 
able as  he  sat  there,  and  regarded  his  august 
relative  intently  but  modestly. 

"  I've  kept  wondering  what  you  would  look 
like,"  he  remarked.  "  I  used  to  lie  in  my  berth  in 
the  ship  and  wonder  if  you  would  be  anything 
like  my  father." 

"Am  I?"  asked  the  Earl 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  99 

"Well,"  Cedric  replied,  "I  was  very  young 
when  he  died,  and  I  may  not  remember  exactly 
how  he  looked,  but  I  don't  think  you  are  like 
him." 

"  You  are  disappointed,  I  suppose  ?  "  suggested 
his  grandfather. 

"Oh,  no,"  responded  Cedric  politely.  "Of 
course  you  would  like  any  one  to  look  like  your 
father ;  but  of  course  you  would  enjoy  the  way 
your  grandfather  looked,  even  if  he  wasn't  like 
your  father.  You  know  how  it  is  yourself  about 
admiring  your  relations." 

The  Earl  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  stared. 
He  could  not  be  said  to  know  how  it  was  about 
admiring  his  relations.  He  had  employed  most 
of  his  noble  leisure  in  quarrelling  violently  with 
them,  in  turning  them  out  of  his  house,  and  ap- 
plying abusive  epithets  to  them  ;  and  they  all 
hated  him  cordially. 

"  Any  boy  would  love  his  grandfather,"  con- 
tinued Lord  Fauntleroy,  "  especially  one  that  had 
been  as  kind  to  him  as  you  have  been." 

Another  queer  gleam  came  into  the  old  noble- 
man's eyes. 

"  Oh ! "  he  said,  "  I  have  been  kind  to  you,  have 
I?" 

"  Yes,"  answered  Lord  Fauntleroy  brightly ; 
"  I'm  ever  so  much  obliged  to  you  about  Bridget, 
and  the  apple  -  woman,  and  Dick." 


ioo  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"  Bridget ! "  exclaimed  the  Earl.  "  Dick !  The 
apple-woman  ! " 

"  Yes  !  "  explained  Cedric ;  "  the  ones  you  gave 
me  all  that  money  for — the  money  you  told  Mr. 
Havisham  to  give  me  if  I  wanted  it." 

"  Ha  ! "  ejaculated  his  lordship.  "  That's  it,  is 
it  ?  The  money  you  were  to  spend  as  you  liked. 
What  did  you  buy  with  it  ?  I  should  like  to  hear 
something  about  that." 

He  drew  his  shaggy  eyebrows  together  and 
looked  at  the  child  sharply.  He  was  secretly 
curious  to  know  in  what  way  the  lad  had  indulged 
himself. 

"  Oh  ! "  said  Lord  Fauntleroy,  "  perhaps  you 
didn't  know  about  Dick  and  the  apple-woman  and 
Bridget.  I  forgot  you  lived  such  a  long  way  off 
from  them.  They  were  particular  friends  of  mine. 
And  you  see  Michael  had  the  fever " 

"  Who's  Michael  ?  "  asked  the  Earl. 

"  Michael  is  Bridget's  husband,  and  they  were 
in  great  trouble.  When  a  man  is  sick  and  can't 
work  and  has  twelve  children,  you  know  how  it  is. 
And  Michael  has  always  been  a  sober  man.  And 
Bridget  used  to  come  to  our  house  and  cry.  And 
the  evening  Mr.  Havisham  was  there,  she  was  in 
the  kitchen  crying,  because  they  had  almost  noth- 
ing to  eat  and  couldn't  pay  the  rent ;  and  I  went 
in  to  see  her,  and  Mr.  Havisham  sent  for  me  and 
he  said  you  had  given  him  some  money  for  me. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  101 

And  I  ran  as  fast  as  I  could  into  the  kitchen  and 
gave  it  to  Bridget ;  and  that  made  it  all  right ; 
and  Bridget  could  scarcely  believe  her  eyes. 
That's  why  I'm  so  obliged  to  you." 

"  Oh !  "  said  the  Earl  in  his  deep  voice,  "  that 
was  one  of  the  things  you  did  for  yourself,  was 
it?  What  else?" 

Dougal  had  been  sitting  by  the  tall  chair ;  the 
great  dog  had  taken  its  place  there  when  Cedric 
sat  down.  Several  times  it  had  turned  and  looked 
up  at  the  boy  as  if  interested  in  the  conversation. 
Dougal  was  a  solemn  dog,  who  seemed  to  feel 
altogether  too  big  to  take  life's  responsibilities 
lightly.  The  old  Earl,  who  knew  the  dog  well, 
had  watched  it  with  secret  interest.  Dougal  was 
not  a  dog  whose  habit  it  was  to  make  acquaint- 
ances rashly,  and  the  Earl  wondered  somewhat  to 
see  how  quietly  the  brute  sat  under  the  touch  01 
the  childish  hand.  And,  just  at  this  moment,  the 
big  dog  gave  little  Lord  Fauntleroy  one  more 
look  of  dignified  scrutiny,  and  deliberately  laid  its 
huge,  lion -like  head  on  the  boy's  black  velvet 
knee. 

The  small  hand  went  on  stroking  this  new  friend 
as  Cedric  answered : 

"  Well,  there  was  Dick,"  he  said.  "  You'd  like 
Dick,  he's  so  square." 

This  was  an  Americanism  the  Earl  was  not  pre- 
pared for. 


IO2  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"  What  does  that  mean?"  he  inquired. 

Lord  Fauntleroy  paused  a  moment  to  reflect. 
He  was  not  very  sure  himself  what  it  meant.  He 
had  taken  it  for  granted  as  meaning  something 
very  creditable  because  Dick  had  been  fond  of 
using  it. 

"I  think  it  means  that  he  wouldn't  cheat  any 
one/'  he  exclaimed  ;  "  or  hit  a  boy  who  was  under 
his  size,  and  that  he  blacks  people's  boots  very 
well  and  makes  them  shine  as  much  as  he  can. 
He's  a  perfessional  boot-black." 

"  And  he's  one  of  your  acquaintances,  is  he  ? " 
said  the  Earl. 

"  He  is  an  old  friend  of  mine,"  replied  his  grand- 
son. "  Not  quite  as  old  as  Mr.  Hobbs,  but  quite 
old.  He  gave  me  a  present  just  before  the  ship 
sailed." 

He  put  his  hand  into  his  pocket  and  drew  forth 
a  neatly  folded  red  object  and  opened  it  with  an 
air  of  affectionate  pride.  It  was  the  red  silk  hand- 
kerchief with  the  large  purple  horse -shoes  and 
heads  on  it. 

"  He  gave  me  this,"  said  his  young  lordship. 
"  I  shall  keep  it  always.  You  can  wear  it  round 
your  neck  or  keep  it  in  your  pocket.  He  bought 
it  with  the  first  money  he  earned  after  I  bought 
Jake  out  and  gave  him  the  new  brushes.  It's  a 
keepsake.  I  put  some  poetry  in  Mr.  Hobbs's 
watch.  It  was,  'When  this  you  see,  remember 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  103 

me/    When  thi?  I  see,  I  shall  always  remember 
Dick." 

The  sensations  of  the  Right  Honorable  the  Earl 
of  Dorincourt  could  scarcely  be  described.  He 
was  not  an  old  nobleman  who  was  very  easily  be- 
wildered, because  he  had  seen  a  great  deal  of  the 
world  ;  but  here  was  something  he  found  so  novel 
that  it  almost  took  his  lordly  breath  away,  and 
caused  him  some  singular  emotions.  He  had 
never  cared  for  children  ;  he  had  been  so  occupied 
with  his  own  pleasures  that  he  had  never  had  time 
to  care  for  them.  His  own  sons  had  not  interested 
him  when  they  were  very  young — though  some- 
times he  remembered  having  thought  Cedric's 
father  a  handsome  and  strong  little  fellow.  He 
had  been  so  selfish  himself  that  he  had  missed  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  unselfishness  in  others,  and  he 
had  not  known  how  tender  and  faithful  and  affec- 
tionate a  kind-hearted  little  child  can  be,  and  how 
innocent  and  unconscious  are  its  simple,  generous 
impulses.  A  boy  had  always  seemed  to  him  a 
most  objectionable  little  animal,  selfish  and  greedy 
and  boisterous  when  not  under  strict  restraint; 
his  own  two  eldest  sons  had  given  their  tutors  con- 
stant trouble  and  annoyance,  and  of  the  younger 
one  he  fancied  he  had  heard  few  complaints  be- 
cause the  boy  was  of  no  particular  importance. 
It  had  never  once  occurred  to  him  that  he  should 
like  his  grandson ;  he  had  sent  for  the  little  Cedric 


IO4  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

because  his  pride  impelled  him  to  do  so.  If  tLe 
boy  was  to  take  his  place  in  the  future,  he  did  not 
wish  his  name  to  be  made  ridiculous  by  descend- 
ing to  an  uneducated  boor.  He  had  been  con- 
vinced the  boy  would  be  a  clownish  fellow  if  he 
were  brought  up  in  America.  He  had  no  feeling 
of  affection  for  the  lad ;  his  only  hope  was  that  he 
should  find  him  decently  well-featured,  and  with 
a  respectable  share  of  sense  ;  he  had  been  so  dis- 
appointed in  his  other  sons,  and  had  been  made  so 
furious  by  Captain  Errol's  American  marriage, 
that  he  had  never  once  thought  that  anything 
creditable  could  come  of  it.  When  the  footman 
had  announced  Lord  Fauntleroy,  he  had  almost 
dreaded  to  look  at  the  boy  lest  he  should  find  him 
all  that  he  had  feared.  It  was  because  of  this  feel- 
ing that  he  had  ordered  that  the  child  should  be 
sent  to  him  alone.  His  pride  could  not  endure 
that  others  should  see  his  disappointment  if  he 
was  to  be  disappointed.  His  proud,  stubborn  old 
heart  therefore  had  leaped  within  him  when  the 
boy  came  forward  with  his  graceful,  easy  carriage, 
his  fearless  hand  on  the  big  dog's  neck.  Even  in 
the  moments  when  he  had  hoped  the  most,  the 
Earl  had  never  hoped  that  his  grandson  would 
look  like  that.  It  seemed  almost  too  good  to  be 
true  that  this  should  be  the  boy  he  had  dreaded 
to  see — the  child  of  the  woman  he  so  disliked — 
this  little  fellow  with  so  much  beauty  and  such  a 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  105 

brave,  childish  grace !  The  Earl's  stern  com- 
posure was  quite  shaken  by  this  startling  sur- 
prise. 

And  then  their  talk  began ;  and  he  was  still 
more  curiously  moved,  and  more  and  more  puz- 
zled. In  the  first  place,  he  was  so  used  to  seeing 
people  rather  afraid  and  embarrassed  before  him, 
that  he  had  expected  nothing  else  but  that  his 
grandson  would  be  timid  or  shy.  But  Cedric  was 
no  more  afraid  of  the  Earl  than  he  had  been  of 
Dougal.  He  was  not  bold ;  he  was  only  inno- 
cently friendly,  and  he  was  not  conscious  that 
there  could  be  any  reason  why  he  should  be  awk- 
ward or  afraid.  The  Earl  could  not  help  seeing 
that  the  little  boy  took  him  for  a  friend  and  treated 
him  as  one,  without  having  any  doubt  of  him  at 
all.  It  was  quite  plain  as  the  little  fellow  sat  there 
in  his  tall  chair  and  talked  in  his  friendly  way  that 
it  had  never  occurred  to  him  that  this  large,  fierce- 
looking  old  man  could  be  anything  but  kind  to 
him,  and  rather  pleased  to  see  him  there.  And  it 
was  plain,  too,  that,  in  his  childish  way,  he  wished 
to  please  and  interest  his  grandfather.  Cross,  and 
hard-hearted,  and  worldly  as  the  old  Earl  was,  he 
could  not  help  feeling  a  secret  and  novel  pleasure 
in  this  very  confidence.  After  all,  it  was  not  dis* 
agreeable  to  meet  some  one  who  did  not  distrust 
him  or  shrink  from  him,  or  seem  to  detect  the 
ugly  part  of  his  nature ;  some  one  who  looked  at 


IOC  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

him  with  clear,  unsuspecting-  eyes, — if  it  was  only 
a  little  boy  in  a  black  velvet  suit. 

So  the  old  man  leaned  back  in  his  chair,  and 
led  his  young  companion  on  to  telling  him  still 
more  of  himself,  and  with  that  odd  gleam  in  his 
eyes  watched  the  little  fellow  as  he  talked.  Lord 
Fauntleroy  was  quite  willing  to  answer  all  his 
questions  and  chatted  on  in  his  genial  little  way 
quite  composedly.  He  told  him  all  about  Dick 
and  Jake,  and  the  apple-woman,  and  Mr.  Hobbs; 
he  described  the  Republican  Rally  in  all  the  glory 
of  its  banners  and  transparencies,  torches  and  rock- 
ets. In  the  course  of  the  conversation,  he  reached 
the  Fourth  of  July  and  the  Revolution,  and  was 
just  becoming  enthusiastic,  when  he  suddenly  rec- 
ollected something  and  stopped  very  abruptly. 

"  What  is  the  matter?  "  demanded  his  grand- 
father. "  Why  don't  you  go  on  ?" 

Lord  Fauntleroy  moved  rather  uneasily  in  his 
chair.  It  was  evident  to  the  Earl  that  he  was 
embarrassed  by  the  thought  which  had  just  oc- 
curred to  him. 

"  I  was  just  thinking-  that  perhaps  you  mightn't 
like  it,"  he  replied.  "  Perhaps  some  one  belong- 
ing to  you  might  have  been  there.  I  forgot  you 
were  an  Englishman." 

"  You  can  go  on/'  said  my  lord.  "  No  one  be- 
longing to  me  was  there.  You  forgot  you  were 
an  Englishman,  too." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  107 

"Oh!  no,"  said  Cedric  quickly.  "I'm  an 
American ! " 

"  You  are  an  Englishman,"  said  the  Earl 
grimly.  "  Your  father  was  an  Englishman." 

It  amused  him  a  little  to  say  this,  but  it  did 
not  amuse  Cedric.  The  lad  had  never  thought  of 
such  a  development  as  this.  He  felt  himself 
grow  quite  hot  up  to  the  roots  of  his  hair. 

"  I  was  born  in  America,"  he  protested.  "  You 
have  to  be  an  American  if  you  are  born  in  Amer- 
ica. I  beg  your  pardon,"  with  serious  polite- 
ness and  delicacy,  "for  contradicting  you.  Mr. 
Hobbs  told  me,  if  there  were  another  war,  you 
know,  I  should  have  to — to  be  an  American." 

The  Earl  gave  a  grim  half  laugh — it  was  short 
and  grim,  but  it  was  a  laugh. 

"  You  would,  would  you?  "  he  said. 

He  hated  America  and  Americans,  but  it 
amused  him  to  see  how  serious  and  interested 
this  small  patriot  was.  He  thought  that  so  good 
an  American  might  make  a  rather  good  English- 
man when  he  was  a  man. 

They  had  not  time  to  go  very  deep  into  the 
Revolution  again — and  indeed  Lord  Fauntleroy 
felt  some  delicacy  about  returning  to  the  subject 
— before  dinner  was  announced. 

Cedric  left  his  chair  and  went  to  his  noble  kins- 
man. He  looked  down  at  his  gouty  foot. 

"  Would  you  like  me  to  help  you  ?  "  he  said  po- 


io8  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

litely.  "  You  could  lean  on  me,  you  know.  Once 
when  Mr.  Hobbs  hurt  his  foot  with  a  potato- 
barrel  rolling  on  it,  he  used  to  lean  on  me." 

The  big  footman  almost  periled  his  reputation 
and  his  situation  by  smiling.  He  was  an  aristo- 
cratic footman  who  had  always  lived  in  the  best 
of  noble  families,  and  he  had  never  smiled ;  in- 
deed, he  would  have  felt  himself  a  disgraced  and 
vulgar  footman  if  he  had  allowed  himself  to  be 
led  by  any  circumstance  whatever  into  such  an 
indiscretion  as  a  smile.  But  he  had  a  very  nar- 
row escape.  He  only  just  saved  himself  by  star- 
ing  straight  over  the  Earl's  head  at  a  very  ugly 
picture. 

The  Earl  looked  his  valiant  young  relative  over 
from  head  to  foot. 

"  Do  you  think  you  could  do  it  ? "  he  asked 
gruffly. 

"  I  think  I  could,"  said  Cedric.  "  I'm  strong. 
I'm  seven,  you  know.  You  could  lean  on  your 
stick  on  one  side,  and  on  me  on  the  other.  Dick 
says  I've  a  good  deal  of  muscle  for  a  boy  that's 
only  seven/* 

He  shut  his  hand  and  moved  it  upward  to  his 
shoulder,  so  that  the  Earl  might  see  the  muscle 
Dick  had  kindly  approved  of,  and  his  face  was  so 
grave  and  earnest  that  the  footman  found  it  nec- 
essary to  look  very  hard  indeed  at  the  ugly  pict- 
ure. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  109 

"  Well,"  said  the  Earl,  "  you  may  try/4 

Cedric  gave  him  his  stick  and  began  to  assist 
him  to  rise.  Usually,  the  footman  did  this,  and 
was  violently  sworn  at  when  his  lordship  had  an 
extra  twinge  of  gout.  The  Earl  was  not  a  very 
polite  person  as  a  rule,  and  many  a  time  the  huge 
footmen  about  him  quaked  inside  their  imposing 
liveries. 

But  this  evening  he  did  not  swear,  though  his 
gouty  foot  gave  him  more  twinges  than  one. 
He  chose  to  try  an  experiment.  He  got  up 
slowly  and  put  his  hand  on  the  small  shoulder 
presented  to  him  with  so  much  courage.  Little 
Lord  Fauntleroy  made  a  careful  step  forward, 
looking  down  at  the  gouty  foot. 

"  Just  lean  on  me/'  he  said,  with  encouraging 
good  cheer.  "  I'll  walk  very  slowly." 

If  the  Earl  had  been  supported  by  the  footman 
he  would  have  rested  less  on  his  stick  and  more 
on  his  assistant's  arm.  And  yet  it  was  part  of  his 
experiment  to  let  his  grandson  feel  his  burden  as 
no  light  weight.  It  was  quite  a  heavy  weight  in- 
deed, and  after  a  few  steps  his  young  lordship's 
face  grew  quite  hot,  and  his  heart  beat  rather 
fast,  but  he  braced  himself  sturdily,  remembering 
his  muscle  and  Dick's  approval  of  it. 

"  Don't  be  afraid  of  leaning  on  me,"  he  pant- 
ed. "I'm  all  right — if — if  it  isn't  a  very  long 
way/' 


no  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

It  was  not  really  very  far  to  the  dining-room, 
but  it  seemed  rather  a  long  way  to  Cedric,  before 
they  reached  the  chair  at  the  head  of  the  table. 
The  hand  on  his  shoulder  seemed  to  grow  heav- 
ier at  every  step,  and  his  face  grew  redder  and 
hotter,  and  his  breath  shorter,  but  he  never 
thought  of  giving  up;  he  stiffened  his  childish 
muscles,  held  his  head  erect,  and  encouraged  the 
Earl  as  he  limped  along. 

"Does  your  foot  hurt  you  very  much  when 
you  stand  on  it  ?  "  he  asked.  "  Did  you  ever  put 
it  in  hot  water  and  mustard  ?  Mr.  Hobbs  used  to 
put  his  in  hot  water.  Arnica  is  a  very  nice  thing, 
they  tell  me." 

The  big  dog  stalked  slowly  beside  them,  and 
the  big  footman  followed ;  several  times  he 
looked  very  queer  as  he  watched  the  little  figure 
making  the  very  most  of  all  its  strength,  and 
bearing  its  burden  with  such  good -will.  The 
Earl,  too,  looked  rather  queer,  once,  as  he  glanced 
sidewise  down  at  the  flushed  little  face.  When 
they  entered  the  room  where  they  were  to  dine, 
Cedric  saw  it  was  a  very  large  and  imposing  one, 
and  that  the  footman  who  stood  behind  the  chair 
at  the  head  of  the  table  stared  very  hard  as  they 
came  in. 

But  they  reached  the  chair  at  last.  The  hand 
was  removed  from  his  shoulder,  and  the  Earl  was 
fairly  seated 


'JUST  LEAN  ON  ME,"    SAID  LITTLE  LORD  FAUNTLEROY,  "  I'LL  WALK 
VERY  SLOWLY." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  113 

Cedric  took  out  Dick's  handkerchief  and  wiped 
his  forehead. 

"It's  a  warm  night,  isn't  it?"  he  said.  "Per- 
haps  you  need  a  fire  because — because  of  your 
foot,  but  it  seems  just  a  little  warm  to  me." 

His  delicate  consideration  for  his  noble  rela- 
tive's feelings  was  such  that  he  did  not  wish  to 
seem  to  intimate  that  any  of  his  surroundings 
were  unnecessary. 

"  You  have  been  doing  some  rather  hard  work," 
said  the  Earl. 

"Oh,  no!"  said  Lord  Fauntleroy,  "it  wasn't 
exactly  hard,  but  I  got  a  little  warm.  A  person 
will  get  warm  in  summer  time." 

And  he  rubbed  his  damp  curls  rather  vigorously 
with  the  gorgeous  handkerchief.  His  own  chair 
was  placed  at  the  other  end  of  the  table,  opposite 
his  grandfather's.  It  was  a  chair  with  arms,  and 
intended  for  a  much  larger  individual  than  him- 
self ;  indeed,  everything  he  had  seen  so  far, — the 
great  rooms,  with  their  high  ceilings,  the  massive 
furniture,  the  big  footman,  the  big  dog,  the  Earl 
himself,  —  were  all  of  proportions  calculated  to 
make  this  little  lad  feel  that  he  was  very  small, 
indeed.  But  that  did  not  trouble  him;  he  had 
never  thought  himself  very  large  or  important, 
and  he  was  quite  willing  to  accommodate  himself 
even  to  circumstances  which  rather  overpowered 
him. 

* 


1/4  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

Perhaps  he  had  never  looked  so  little  a  fellow 
as  when  seated  now  in  his  great  chair,  at  the  end 
of  the  table.  Notwithstanding  his  solitary  exist- 
ence,  the  Earl  chose  to  live  in  some  state.  He 
was  fond  of  his  dinner,  and  he  dined  in  a  formal 
style.  Cedric  looked  at  him  across  a  glitter  of 
splendid  glass  and  plate,  which  to  his  unaccus- 
tomed eyes  seemed  quite  dazzling.  A  stranger 
looking  on  might  well  have  smiled  at  the  picture, 
— the  great  stately  room,  the  big  liveried  ser- 
vants, the  bright  lights,  the  glittering  silver  and 
glass,  the  fierce-looking  old  nobleman  at  the  head 
of  the  table  and  the  very  small  boy  at  the  foot. 
Dinner  was  usually  a  very  serious  matter  with 
the  Earl — and  it  was  a  very  serious  matter  with 
the  cook,  if  his  lordship  was  not  pleased  or  had 
an  indifferent  appetite.  To-day,  however,  his  ap- 
petite seemed  a  trifle  better  than  usual,  perhaps 
because  he  had  something  to  think  of  beside  the 
flavor  of  the  entries  and  the  management  of  the 
gravies.  His  grandson  gave  him  something  to 
think  of.  He  kept  looking  at  him  across  the  table. 
He  did  not  say  very  much  himself,  but  he  man- 
aged to  make  the  boy  talk.  He  had  never  im- 
agined that  he  could  be  entertained  by  hearing  a 
child  talk,  but  Lord  Fauntleroy  at  once  puzzled 
and  amused  him,  and  he  kept  remembering  how 
he  had  let  the  childish  shoulder  feel  his  weight 
just  for  the  sake  of  trving  how  far  the  boy's  cour- 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  115 

age  and  endurance  would  go,  and  it  pleased  him 
to  know  that  his  grandson  had  not  quailed  and 
had  not  seemed  to  think  even  for  a  moment  of 
giving  up  what  he  had  undertaken  to  do. 

"  You  don't  wear  your  coronet  all  the  time  ?  " 
remarked  Lord  Fauntleroy  respectfully. 

"  No,"  replied  the  Earl,  with  his  grim  smile  ; 
"  it  is  not  becoming  to  me." 

"Mr.  Hobbs  said  you  always  wore  it,"  said 
Cedric  ;  "  but  after  he  thought  it  over,  he  said  he 
supposed  you  must  sometimes  take  it  off  to  put 
your  hat  on." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Earl,  "  I  take  it  off  occasion, 
ally." 

And  one  of  the  footmen  suddenly  turned  aside 
and  gave  a  singular  little  cough  behind  his 
hand. 

Cedric  finished  his  dinner  first,  and  then  he 
leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  took  a  survey  of  the 
room. 

"  You  must  be  very  proud  of  your  house,"  he 
said,  "  it's  such  a  beautiful  house.  I  never  saw 
anything  so  beautiful ;  but,  of  course,  as  I'm  only 
seven,  I  haven't  seen  much." 

"And  you  think  I  must  be  proud  of  it,  do 
you  ?  "  said  the  Earl. 

"  I  should  think  any  one  would  be  proud  of  it," 
replied  Lord  Fauntleroy.  "  I  should  be  proud  of 
it  if  it  were  my  house.  Everything  about  it  is 


ii6  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

beautiful.     And  the  park,  and  those  trees, — hott 
beautiful  they  are,  and  how  the  leaves  rustle ! " 

Then  he  paused  an  instant  and  looked  across 
the  table  rather  wistfully. 

"  It's  a  very  big  house  for  just  two  people  to 
live  in,  isn't  it  ?  "  he  said. 

"  It  is  quite  large  enough  for  two,"  answered 
the  Earl.  "  Do  you  find  it  too  large?" 

His  little  lordship  hesitated  a  moment. 

"  I  was  only  thinking,"  he  said,  "  that  if  two 
people  lived  in  it  who  were  not  very  good  com- 
panions, they  might  feel  lonely  sometimes." 

"  Do  you  think  I  shall  make  a  good  compan- 
ion ?  "  inquired  the  Earl. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Cedric,  "  I  think  you  will.  Mr. 
Hobbs  and  I  were  great  friends.  He  was  the 
best  friend  I  had  except  Dearest." 

The  Earl  made  a  quick  movement  of  his  bushy 
eyebrows. 

"Who  is  Dearest?" 

"  She  is  my  mother,"  said  Lord  Fauntleroy,  in  a 
rather  low,  quiet  little  voice. 

Perhaps  he  was  a  trifle  tired,  as  his  bed-time 
was  nearing,  and  perhaps  after  the  excitement  of 
the  last  few  days  it  was  natural  he  should  be 
tired,  so  perhaps,  too,  the  feeling  of  weariness 
brought  to  him  a  vague  sense  of  loneliness  in  the 
remembrance  tha';  to-night  he  was  not  to  sleep 
at  home,  watched  over  by  the  loving  eyes  of  that 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  117 

"best  friend"  of  his.  They  had  always  been 
"best  friends,"  this  boy  and  his  young  mother. 
He  could  not  help  thinking  of  her,  and  the  more 
Jie  thought  of  her  the  less  was  he  inclined  to 
talk,  and  by  the  time  the  dinner  was  at  an  end 
the  Earl  saw  that  there  was  a  faint  shadow  on  his 
face.  But  Cedric  bore  himself  with  excellent 
courage,  and  when  they  went  back  to  the  library, 
though  the  tall  footman  walked  on  one  side  of  his 
master,  the  Earl's  hand  rested  on  his  grandson's 
shoulder,  though  not  so  heavily  as  before. 

When  the  footman  left  them  alone,  Cedric  sat 
down  upon  the  hearth-rug  near  Dougal.  Fora 
few  minutes  he  stroked  the  dog's  ears  in  silence 
and  looked  at  the  fire. 

The  Earl  watched  him.  The  boy's  eyes  looked 
wistful  and  thoughtful,  and  once  or  twice  he  gave 
a  little  sigh.  The  Earl  sat  still,  and  kept  his  eyes 
fixed  on  his  grandson. 

"  Fauntleroy,"  he  said  at  last,  "  what  are  you 
thinking  of  ?  " 

Fauntleroy  looked  up  with  a  manful  effort  at  a 
smile. 

"  I  was  thinking  about  Dearest,"  he  said ;  "  and 
— and  I  think  I'd  better  get  up  and  walk  up  and 
down  the  room." 

He  rose  up,  and  put  his  hands  in  his  small 
pockets,  and  began  to  walk  to  and  fro.  His  eyes 
were  very  bright,  and  his  lips  were  pressed  to 


n8  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

gether,  but  he  kept  his  head  up  and  walked  firm 
ly.  Dougal  moved  lazily  and  looked  at  him,  and 
then  stood  up.  He  walked  over  to  the  child,  and 
began  to  follow  him  uneasily.  Fauntleroy  drew 
one  hand  from  his  pocket  and  laid  it  on  the  dog's 
head. 

"He's  a  very  nice  dog,"  he  said.  "He's  my 
friend.  He  knows  how  I  feel." 

"  How  do  you  feel?"  asked  the  Earl. 

It  disturbed  him  to  see  the  struggle  the  little 
fellow  was  having  with  his  first  feeling  of  home- 
sickness,  but  it  pleased  him  to  see  that  he  was 
making  so  brave  an  effort  to  bear  it  well.  He 
liked  this  childish  courage. 

"  Come  here,"  he  said. 

Fauntleroy  went  to  him. 

"  I  never  was  away  from  my  own  house  be- 
fore," said  the  boy,  with  a  troubled  look  in  his 
brown  eyes.  "  It  makes  a  person  feel  a  strange 
feeling  when  he  has  to  stay  all  night  in  another 
person's  castle  instead  of  in  his  own  house.  But 
Dearest  is  not  very  far  away  from  me.  She  told 
me  to  remember  that — and — and  I'm  seven — and 
I  can  look  at  the  picture  she  gave  me." 

He  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket,  and  brought  out 
a  small  violet  velvet-covered  case. 

"  This  is  it,"  he  said.  "  You  see,  you  press  this 
spring  and  it  opens,  and  she  is  in  there !  " 

He  had  come  close  to  the  Earl's  chair,  and,  as 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  119 

he  drew  forth  the  little  case,  he  leaned  against  the 
arm  of  it,  and  against  the  old  man's  arm,  too, 
as  confidingly  as  if  children  had  always  leaned 
there. 

"  There  she  is,"  he  said,  as  the  case  opened ; 
and  he  looked  up  with  a  smile. 

The  Earl  knitted  his  brows ;  he  did  not  wish  to 
see  the  picture,  but  he  looked  at  it  in  spite  of  him- 
self ;  and  there  looked  up  at  him  from  it  such  a 
pretty  young  face — a  face  so  like  the  child's  at  his 
side — that  it  quite  startled  him. 

"  I  suppose  you  think  you  are  very  fond  of 
her,"  he  said. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Lord  Fauntleroy,  in  a  gentle 
tone,  and  with  simple  directness;  "  I  do  think  so, 
and  1  think  it's  true.  You  see,  Mr.  Hobbs  was 
my  friend,  and  Dick  and  Bridget  and  Mary  and 
Michael,  they  were  my  friends,  too ;  but  Dearest 
— well,  she  is  my  close  friend,  and  we  always  tell 
each  other  everything.  My  father  left  her  to  me 
to  take  care  of,  and  when  I  am  a  man  I  am  going 
to  work  and  earn  money  for  her." 

"  What  do  you  think  of  doing  ?  "  inquired  his 
grandfather. 

His  young  lordship  slipped  down  upon  the 
hearth-rug,  and  sat  there  with  the  picture  still  in 
his  hand.  He  seemed  to  be  reflecting  seriously, 
before  he  answered. 

"  I  did  think  perhaps  I  might  go  into  business 


I2O  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

with  Mr.  Hobbs,"  he  said  ;  "  but  I  should  like  to 
be  a  President." 

"  We'll  send  you  to  the  House  of  Lords  in- 
stead,"  said  his  grandfather. 

"  Well,"  remarked  Lord  Fauntleroy,  "  if  I 
couldn't  be  a  President,  and  if  that  is  a  good 
business,  I  shouldn't  mind.  The  grocery  busi- 
ness is  dull  sometimes." 

Perhaps  he  was  weighing  the  matter  in  his 
mind,  for  he  sat  very  quiet  after  this,  and  looked 
at  the  fire  for  some  time. 

The  Earl  did  not  speak  again.  He  leaned  back 
in  his  chair  and  watched  him.  A  great  many 
strange  new  thoughts  passed  through  the  old 
nobleman's  mind.  Dougal  had  stretched  himself 
out  and  gone  to  sleep  with  his  head  on  his  huge 
paws.  There  was  a  long  silence. 

In  about  half  an  hour's  time  Mr.  Havisham  was 
ushered  in.  The  great  room  was  very  still  when 
he  entered.  The  Earl  was  still  leaning  back  in 
his  chair.  He  moved  as  Mr.  Havisham  ap- 
proached, and  held  up  his  hand  in  a  gesture  of 
warning — it  seemed  as  if  he  had  scarcely  intended 
to  make  the  gesture — as  if  it  were  almost  involun- 
tary. Dougal  was  still  asleep,  and  close  beside 
the  great  dog,  sleeping  also,  with  his  curly  head 
upon  his  arm,  lay  little  Lord  Fauntleroy. 


VI 

WHEN  Lord  Fauntleroy  wakened  in  the  morn, 
ing, — he  had  not  wakened  at  all  when  he  had  been 
carried  to  bed  the  night  before,  —  the  first  sounds 
he  was  conscious  of  were  the  crackling  of  a  wood 
fire  and  the  murmur  of  voices. 

"  You  will  be  careful,  Dawson,  not  to  say  any- 
thing about  it,"  he  heard  some  one  say.  "  He 
does  not  know  why  she  is  not  to  be  with  him, 
and  the  reason  is  to  be  kept  from  him." 

"  If  them's  his  lordship's  orders,  mem,"  another 
voice  answered,  "  they'll  have  to  be  kep',  I  sup- 
pose.  But,  if  you'll  excuse  the  liberty,  mem,  as 
it's  between  ourselves,  servant  or  no  servant,  all 
I  have  to  say  is,  it's  a  cruel  thing, — parting  that 
poor,  pretty,  young  widdered  cre'tur'  from  her 
own  flesh  and  blood,  and  him  such  a  little  beauty 
and  a  nobleman  born.  James  and  Thomas,  mem, 
last  night  in  the  servants*  hall,  they  both  of  'em 
say  as  they  never  see  anythink  in  their  two  lives 
— nor  yet  no  other  gentleman  in  livery — like  that 
little  fellow's  ways,  as  innercent  an'  polite  an'  in- 
terested  as  if  he'd  been  sitting  there  dining  with 
his  best  friend, — and  the  temper  of  a'  angel,  in. 


122  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

stead  of  one  (if  you'll  excuse  me,  mem),  as  it's 
well  known,  is  enough  to  curdle  your  blood  in 
your  veins  at  times.  And  as  to  looks,  mem,  when 
we  was  rung  for,  James  and  me,  to  go  into  the 
library  and  bring  him  upstairs,  and  James  lifted 
him  up  in  his  arms,  what  with  his  little  inner, 
cent  face  all  red  and  rosy,  and  his  little  head 
on  James's  shoulder  and  his  hair  hanging  down, 
all  curly  an'  shinin',  a  prettier,  takiner  sight  you'd 
never  wish  to  see.  An'  it's  my  opinion,  my  lord 
wasn't  blind  to  it  neither,  for  he  looked  at  him, 
and  he  says  to  James, '  See  you  don't  wake  him ! ' 
he  says." 

Cedric  moved  on  his  pillow,  and  turned  over, 
opening  his  eyes. 

There  were  two  women  in  the  room.  Every, 
thing  was  bright  and  cheerful  with  gay-flowered 
chintz.  There  was  a  fire  on  the  hearth,  and  the 
sunshine  was  streaming  in  through  the  ivy- 
entwined  windows.  Both  women  came  toward 
him,  and  he  saw  that  one  of  them  was  Mrs.  Mel- 
lon, the  housekeeper,  and  the  other  a  comfortable, 
middle-aged  woman,  with  a  face  as  kind  and 
good-humored  as  a  face  could  be. 

"  Good-morning,  my  lord,"  said  Mrs.  Mellon 
"  Did  you  sleep  well  ?  " 

His  lordship  rubbed  his  eyes  and  smiled. 

"Good-morning,"  he  said.  "I  didn't  know  I 
was  here." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  123 

"  You  were  carried  upstairs  when  you  were 
asleep,"  said  the  housekeeper.  "  This  is  your 
bedroom,  and  this  is  Dawson,  who  is  to  take  care 
of  you." 

Fauntleroy  sat  up  in  bed  and  held  out  his  hand 
to  Dawson,  as  he  had  held  it  out  to  the  Earl. 

"How  do  you  do,  ma'am?"  he  said.  "I'm 
much  obliged  to  you  for  coming  to  take  care  of 


me." 


"  You  can  call  her  Dawson,  my  lord,"  said  the 
housekeeper  with  a  smile.  "  She  is  used  to  being 
called  Dawson." 

"  Miss  Dawson,  or  Mrs.  Dawson  ?  "  inquired  his 
lordship. 

"  Just  Dawson,  my  lord,"  said  Dawson  herself, 
beaming  all  over.  "  Neither  Miss  nor  Missis, 
bless  your  little  heart !  Will  you  get  up  now, 
and  let  Dawson  dress  you,  and  then  have  your 
breakfast  in  the  nursery  ?  " 

"  I  learned  to  dress  myself  many  years  ago, 
thank  you,"  answered  Fauntleroy.  "  Dearest 
taught  me.  '  Dearest '  is  my  mamma.  We  had 
only  Mary  to  do  all  the  work, — washing  and  all, 
• — and  so  of  course  it  wouldn't  do  to  give  her  so 
much  trouble.  I  can  take  my  bath,  too,  pretty 
well  if  you'll  just  be  kind  enough  to  'zamine  the 
corners  after  I'm  done." 

Dawson  and  the  housekeeper  exchanged 
glances. 


124  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"  Dawson  will  do  anything  you  ask  her  to," 
said  Mrs.  Mellon. 

"  That  I  will,  bless  him,"  said  Dawson,  in  her 
comforting,  good  -  humored  voice.  "  He  shall 
dress  himself  if  he  likes,  and  I'll  stand  by,  ready 
to  help  him  if  he  wants  me." 

"  Thank  you,"  responded  Lord  Fauntleroy ; 
"  it's  a  little  hard  sometimes  about  the  buttons, 
you  know,  and  then  I  have  to  ask  somebody." 

He  thought  Dawson  a  very  kind  woman,  and 
before  the  bath  and  the  dressing  were  finished 
they  were  excellent  friends,  and  he  had  found  out 
a  great  deal  about  her.  He  had  discovered  that 
her  husband  had  been  a  soldier  and  had  been 
/tilled  in  a  real  battle,  and  that  her  son  was  a 
sailor,  and  was  away  on  a  long  cruise,  and  that 
he  had  seen  pirates  and  cannibals  and  Chinese 
people  and  Turks,  and  that  he  brought  home 
strange  shells  and  pieces  of  coral  which  Dawson 
was  ready  to  show  at  any  moment,  some  of  them 
being  in  her  trunk.  All  this  was  very  interesting. 
He  also  found  out  that  she  had  taken  care  of  little 
children  all  her  life,  and  that  she  had  just  come 
from  a  great  house  in  another  part  of  England, 
where  she  had  been  taking  care  of  a  beautiful  lit- 
tle girl  whose  name  was  Lady  Gwyneth  Vaughn. 

"  And  she  is  a  sort  of  relation  of  your  lord- 
ship's," said  Dawson.  "And  perhaps  some  time 
you  may  see  her." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  125 

"  Do  you  think  I  shall?"  said  Fauntleroy.  "  I 
should  like  that.  I  never  knew  any  little  girls, 
but  I  always  like  to  look  at  them." 

When  he  went  into  the  adjoining  room  to 
take  his  breakfast,  and  saw  what  a  great  room  it 
was,  and  found  there  was  another  adjoining  it 
which  Dawson  told  him  was  his  also,  the  feeling 
that  he  was  very  small  indeed  came  over  him 
again  so  strongly  that  he  confided  it  to  Dawson, 
as  he  sat  down  to  the  table  on  which  the  pretty 
breakfast  service  was  arranged. 

"  I  am  a  very  little  boy,"  he  said  rather  wist- 
fully, "  to  live  in  such  a  large  castle,  and  have  so 
many  big  rooms,  —  don't  you  think  so?' 

"Oh!  come!"  said  Dawson,  "you  feel  just  a 
little  strange  at  first,  that's  all;  but  you'll  get 
over  that  very  soon,  and  then  you'll  like  it  here. 
It's  such  a  beautiful  place,  you  know." 

"  It's  a  very  beautiful  place,  of  course,"  said 
Fauntleroy,  with  a  little  sigh  ;  "  but  I  should  like 
it  better  if  I  didn't  miss  Dearest  so.  I  always  had 
my  breakfast  with  her  in  the  morning,  and  put 
the  sugar  and  cream  in  her  tea  for  her,  and  hand- 
ed her  the  toast.  That  made  it  very  sociable,  of 
course." 

"  Oh,  well ! "  answered  Dawson,  comfortingly, 
"  you  know  you  can  see  her  every  day,  and  there's 
no  knowing  how  much  you'll  have  to  tell  her. 
Bless  you!  wait  till  you've  walked  about  a  bit 


126  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

and  seen  things, — the  dogs,  and  the  stables  with  all 
the  horses  in  them.  There's  one  of  them  I  know 
you'll  like  to  see " 

"Is  there?"  exclaimed  Fauntleroy;  "I'm  very 
fond  of  horses.  I  was  very  fond  of  Jim.  He  was 
the  horse  that  belonged  to  Mr.  Hobbs's  grocery 
wagon.  He  was  a  beautiful  horse  when  he  wasn't 
balky." 

"  Well,"  said  Dawson,  "  you  just  wait  till  you've 
seen  what's  in  the  stables.  And,  deary  me,  you 
haven't  looked  even  into  the  very  next  room 
yet!" 

"  What  is  there  ?  "  asked  Fauntleroy. 

"Wait  until  you've  had  your  breakfast,  and 
then  you  shall  see,"  said  Dawson. 

At  this  he  naturally  began  to  grow  curious,  and 
he  applied  himself  assiduously  to  his  breakfast. 
It  seemed  to  him  that  there  must  be  something 
worth  looking  at,  in  the  next  room  ;  Dawson  had 
such  a  consequential,  mysterious  air. 

"  Now,  then,"  he  said,  slipping  off  his  seat  a  few 
minutes  later;  "  I've  had  enough.  Can  I  go  and 
look  at  it  ?  " 

Dawson  nodded  and  led  the  way,  looking  more 
mysterious  and  important  than  ever.  He  began 
to  be  very  much  interested  indeed. 

When  she  opened  the  door  of  the  room,  he 
stood  upon  the  threshold  and  looked  about  him 
in  amazement.  He  did  not  speak ;  he  only  put 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  127 

his  hands  in  his  pockets  and  stood  there  flushing 
up  to  his  forehead  and  looking  in. 

He  flushed  up  because  he  was  so  surprised  and, 
for  the  moment,  excited.  To  see  such  a  place 
was  enough  to  surprise  any  ordinary  boy. 

The  room  was  a  large  one,  too,  as  all  the  rooms 
seemed  to  be,  and  it  appeared  to  him  more  beauti- 
ful than  the  rest,  only  in  a  different  way.  The  fur- 
niture was  not  so  massive  and  antique  as  was  that 
in  the  rooms  he  had  seen  downstairs ;  the  draper- 
ies and  rugs  and  walls  were  brighter;  there  were 
shelves  full  of  books,  and  on  the  tables  were  num- 
bers of  toys, — beautiful,  ingenious  things, — such  as 
he  had  looked  at  with  wonder  and  delight  through 
the  shop  windows  in  New  York. 

"  It  looks  like  a  boy's  room,"  he  said  at  last, 
catching  his  breath  a  little.  "Whom  do  they 
belong  to  ?  " 

"  Go  and  look  at  them,"  said  Dawson.  "  They 
belong  to  you!" 

"  To  me !  "  he  cried  ;  "  to  me  ?  Why  do  they 
belong  to  me  ?  Who  gave  them  to  me  ?  "  And 
he  sprang  forward  with  a  gay  little  shout.  It 
seemed  almost  too  much  to  be  believed.  "  It  was 
grandpapa ! "  he  said,  with  his  eyes  as  bright  as 
stars.  "  I  know  it  was  grandpapa !  " 

"  Yes,  it  was  his  lordship,"  said  Dawson  ;  "  and 
if  you  will  be  a  nice  little  gentleman,  and  not  fret 
about  things,  and  will  enjoy  yourself,  and  be 


128  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

happy  all  the  day,  he  will  give  you  anything  you 
ask  for." 

It  was  a  tremendously  exciting  morning.  There 
were  so  many  things  to  be  examined,  so  many  ex- 
periments to  be  tried;  each  novelty  was  so  ab- 
sorbing that  he  could  scarcely  turn  from  it  to 
look  at  the  next.  And  it  was  so  curious  to  know 
that  all  this  had  been  prepared  for  himself  alone ; 
that,  even  before  he  had  left  New  York,  people 
had  come  down  from  London  to  arrange  the 
rooms  he  was  to  occupy,  and  had  provided  the 
books  and  playthings  most  likely  to  interest  him. 

"  Did  you  ever  know  any  one,'*  he  said  to  Daw- 
son,  "  who  had  such  a  kind  grandfather !  " 

Dawson's  face  wore  an  uncertain  expression  for 
a  moment.  She  had  not  a  very  high  opinion  of 
his  lordship  the  Earl.  She  had  not  been  in  the 
house  many  days,  but  she  had  been  there  long 
enough  to  hear  the  old  nobleman's  peculiarities 
discussed  very  freely  in  the  servants'  hall. 

"  An*  of  all  the  wicious,  savage,  hill-tempered 
hold  fellows  it  was  ever  my  hill-luck  to  wear  liv- 
ery hunder,"  the  tallest  footman  had  said,  "  he's 
the  wiolentest  and  wust  by  a  long  shot." 

And  this  particular  footman,  whose  name  was 
Thomas,  had  also  repeated  to  his  companions  be- 
low stairs  some  of  the  Earl's  remarks  to  Mr. 
Havisham,  when  they  had  been  discussing  these 
very  preparations. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  129 

"  Give  him  his  own  way,  and  fill  his  rooms  with 
toys,"  my  lord  had  said.  "  Give  him  what  will 
amuse  him,  and  he'll  forget  about  his  mother 
quickly  enough.  Amuse  him,  and  fill  his  mind 
with  other  things,  and  we  shall  have  no  trouble. 
That's  boy  nature." 

So,  perhaps,  having  had  this  truly  amiable  ob- 
ject in  view,  it  did  not  please  him  so  very  much  to 
find  it  did  not  seem  to  be  exactly  this  particular 
boy's  nature.  The  Earl  had  passed  a  bad  night 
and  had  spent  the  morning  in  his  room  ;  but  at 
noon,  after  he  had  lunched,  he  sent  for  his  grand- 
son. 

Fauntleroy  answered  the  summons  at  once. 
He  came  down  the  broad  staircase  with  a  bound- 
ing step ;  the  Earl  hear'1  l  im  run  across  the  hall, 
and  thej*  thr  door  ope-icd  and  he  came  in  with 
red  cheeks  and  sparkling  eyes. 

"  I  was  waiting  for  you  to  send  for  me,"  he 
said.  "  I  was  ready  a  long  time  ago.  I'm  ever 
so  much  obliged  to  you  for  all  those  things !  I'm 
ever  so  much  obliged  to  you  !  I  have  been  play- 
ing with  them  all  the  morning." 

"  Oh ! "  said  the  Earl,  "  you  like  them,  do 
you?" 

"  I  like  them  so  much — well,  I  couldn't  tell  you 

how  much  ! "  said  Fauntleroy,  his  face   glowing 

with  delight.     "  There's  one  that's  like  baseball, 

only  you  play  it  on  a  board  with  black  and  white 

9 


130  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

pegs,  and  you  keep  your  score  with  some  counters 
on  a  wire.  I  tried  to  teach  Dawson,  but  she 
couldn't  quite  understand  it  just  at  first — you  see, 
she  never  played  baseball,  being  a  lady ;  and  I'm 
afraid  I  wasn't  very  good  at  explaining  it  to  her. 
But  you  know  all  about  it,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  I'm  afraid  I  don't,"  replied  the  Earl.  "  It's 
an  American  game,  isn't  it?  Is  it  something  like 
cricket  ?  " 

"  I  never  saw  cricket,"  said  Fauntleroy ;  "  but 
Mr.  Hobbs  took  me  several  times  to  see  baseball. 
It's  a  splendid  game.  You  get  so  excited  ! 
Would  you  like  me  to  go  and  get  my  game  and 
show  it  to  you?  Perhaps  it  would  amuse  you 
and  make  you  forget  about  your  foot.  Does  your 
foot  hurt  you  very  much  this  morning  ?  " 

"  More  than  I  enjoy,"  was  the  answer. 

"  Then  perhaps  you  couldn't  forget  it,"  said  the 
little  fellow  anxiously.  "  Perhaps  it  would  bother 
you  to  be  told  about  the  game.  Do  you  think  it 
would  amuse  you,  or  do  you  think  it  would  bother 
you?" 

"  Go  and  get  it,"  said  the  Earl. 

It  certainly  was  a  novel  entertainment  this, — 
making  a  companion  of  a  child  who  offered  to 
teach  him  to  play  games, — but  the  very  novelty 
of  it  amused  him.  There  was  a  smile  lurking 
about  the  Earl's  mouth  when  Cedric  came  back 
with  the  box  containing  the  game  in  his  arms, 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  131 

and  an  expression  of  the  most  eager  interest  on 
his  face. 

"  May  I  pull  that  little  table  over  here  to  your 
chair  ?  "  ne  asked. 

"  Ring  for  Thomas,"  said  the  Earl.  "  He  will 
place  it  for  you." 

"  Oh,  I  can  do  it  myself,"  answered  Fauntleroy. 
"  It's  not  very  heavy." 

"  Very  well,"  replied  his  grandfather.  The 
lurking  smile  deepened  on  the  old  man's  face  as 
he  watched  the  little  fellow's  preparations ;  there 
was  such  an  absorbed  interest  in  them.  The 
small  table  was  dragged  forward  and  placed  by 
his  chair,  and  the  game  taken  from  its  box  and 
arranged  upon  it. 

"  It's  very  interesting  when  you  once  begin," 
said  Fauntleroy.  "You  see,  the  black  pegs  can 
be  your  side  and  the  white  ones  mine.  They're 
men,  you  know,  and  once  round  the  field  is  a 
home  run  and  counts  one  —  and  these  are  the 
outs — and  here  is  the  first  base  and  that's  the 
second  and  that's  the  third  and  that's  the  home 
base." 

He  entered  into  the  details  of  explanation  with 
the  greatest  animation.  He  showed  all  the  atti- 
tudes of  pitcher  and  catcher  and  batter  in  the 
real  game,  and  gave  a  dramatic  description  of  a 
wonderful  "  hot  ball "  he  had  seen  caught  on  the 
glorious  occasion  on  which  he  had  witnessed  a 


132  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

match  in  company  with  Mr.  Hobbs.  His  vigor 
ous,  graceful  little  body,  his  eager  gestures,  his 
simple  enjoyment  of  it  all,  were  pleasant  to  be- 
hold. 

When  at  last  the  explanations  and  illustrations 
were  at  an  end  and  the  game  began  in  good 
earnest,  the  Earl  still  found  himself  entertained. 
His  young  companion  was  wholly  absorbed  ;  he 
played  with  all  his  childish  heart ;  his  gay  little 
laughs  when  he  made  a  good  throw,  his  enthusi- 
asm over  a  "  home  run,"  his  impartial  delight  over 
his  own  good  luck  and  his  opponent's,  would 
have  given  a  flavor  to  any  game. 

If,  a  week  before,  any  one  had  told  the  Earl  of 
Dorincourt  that  on  that  particular  morning  he 
would  be  forgetting  his  gout  and  his  bad  temper 
in  a  child's  game,  played  with  black  and  white 
wooden  pegs,  on  a  gayly  painted  board,  with  a 
curly-headed  small  boy  for  a  companion,  he  would 
without  doubt  have  made  himself  very  unpleas- 
ant; and  yet  he  certainly  had  forgotten  himself 
when  the  door  opened  and  Thomas  announced  a 
visitor. 

The  visitor  in  question,  who  was  an  elderly 
gentleman  in  black,  and  no  less  a  person  than  the 
clergyman  of  the  parish,  was  so  startled  by  the 
amazing  scene  which  met  his  eye,  that  he  almost 
fell  back  a  pace,  and  ran  some  risk  of  colliding 
with  Thomas. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  133 

There  was,  in  fact,  no  part  of  his  duty  that  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Mordaunt  found  so  decidedly  un- 
pleasant as  that  part  which  compelled  him  to  call 
upon  his  noble  patron  at  the  castle.  His  noble 
patron,  indeed,  usually  made  these  visits  as  dis- 
agreeable as  it  lay  in  his  lordly  power  to  make 
them.  He  abhorred  churches  and  charities,  and 
flew  into  violent  rages*  when  any  of  his  tenantry 
took  the  liberty  of  being  poor  and  ill  and  need- 
ing  assistance.  When  his  gout  was  at  its  worst, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  announce  that  he  would  not 
be  bored  and  irritated  by  being  told  stories  of 
their  miserable  misfortunes;  when  his  gout 
troubled  him  less  and  he  was  in  a  somewhat  more 
humane  frame  of  mind,  he  would  perhaps  give 
the  rector  some  money,  after  having  bullied  him 
in  the  most  painful  manner,  and  berated  the 
whole  parish  for  its  shiftlessness  and  imbecility. 
But,  whatsoever  his  mood,  he  never  failed  to 
make  as  many  sarcastic  and  embarrassing  speeches 
as  possible,  and  to  cause  the  Reverend  Mr.  Mor- 
daunt to  wish  it  were  proper  and  Christian-like 
to  throw  something  heavy  at  him.  During  all 
the  years  in  which  Mr.  Mordaunt  had  been  in 
charge  of  Dorincourt  parish,  the  rector  certainly 
did  not  remember  having  seen  his  lordship,  of  his 
own  free  will,  do  any  one  a  kindness,  or,  under 
any  circumstances  whatever,  show  that  he 
thought  of  any  one  but  himself. 


134  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

He  had  called  to-day  to  speak  to  him  of  a  spe- 
cially pressing  case,  and  as  he  had  walked  up  the 
avenue,  he  had,  for  two  reasons,  dreaded  his  visit 
more  than  usual.  In  the  first  place,  he  knew  that 
his  lordship  had  for  several  days  been  suffering 
with  the  gout,  and  had  been  in  so  villainous  a 
humor  that  rumors  of  it  had  even  reached  the 
village — carried  there  by  one  of  the  young  women 
servants,  to  her  sister,  who  kept  a  little  shop  and 
retailed  darning-needles  and  cotton  and  pepper- 
mints and  gossip,  as  a  means  of  earning  an  honest 
living.  What  Mrs.  Dibble  did  not  know  about 
the  castle  and  its  inmates,  and  the  farm-houses 
and  their  inmates,  and  the  village  and  its  popula- 
tion, was  really  not  worth  being  talked  about. 
And  of  course  she  knew  everything  about  the 
castle,  because  her  sister,  Jane  Shorts,  was  one  of 
the  upper  housemaids,  and  was  very  friendly  and 
intimate  with  Thomas. 

"  And  the  way  his  lordship  do  go  on ! "  said 
Mrs.  Dibble,  over  the  counter,  "  and  the  way  he 
do  use  language,  Mr.  Thomas  told  Jane  herself, 
no  flesh  and  blood  as  is  in  livery  could  stand— for 
throw  a  plate  of  toast  at  Mr.  Thomas,  hisself,  he 
did,  not  more  than  two  days  since,  and  if  it 
weren't  for  other  things  being  agreeable  and  the 
society  below  stairs  most  genteel,  warning  would 
have  been  gave  within  a*  hour ! " 

And  the  rector  had  heard  all  this,  for  somehow 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  135 

tne  Earl  was  a  favorite  black  sheep  in  the  cot- 
tages and  farm-houses,  and  his  bad  behavior  gave 
many  a  good  woman  something  to  talk  about 
when  she  had  company  to  tea. 

And  the  second  reason  was  even  worse,  be. 
cause  it  was  a  new  one  and  had  been  talked  about 
with  the  most  excited  interest. 

Who  did  not  know  of  the  old  nobleman's  fury 
when  his  handsome  son  the  captain  had  married 
the  American  lady  ?  Who  did  not  know  how 
cruelly  he  had  treated  the  captain,  and  how  the 
big,  gay,  sweet-smiling  young  man,  who  was  the 
only  member  of  the  grand  family  any  one  liked, 
had  died  in  a  foreign  land,  poor  and  unforgiven  ? 
Who  did  not  know  how  fiercely  his  lordship  had 
hated  the  poor  young  creature  who  had  been  this 
son's  wife,  and  how  he  had  hated  the  thought  of 
her  child  and  never  meant  to  see  the  boy — until 
his  two  sons  died  and  left  him  without  an  heir? 
And  then,  who  did  not  know  that  he  had  looked 
forward  without  any  affection  or  pleasure  to  his 
grandson's  coming,  and  that  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  that  he  should  find  the  boy  a  vulgar,  awk- 
ward, pert  American  lad,  more  likely  to  disgrace 
his  noble  name  than  to  honor  it  ? 

The  proud,  angry  old  man  thought  he  had  kept 
all  his  thoughts  secret.  He  did  not  suppose  any 
one  had  dared  to  guess  at,  much  less  talk  over 
what  he  felt,  and  dreaded ;  but  his  servants 


136  Llttte  Lord  frauntleroy 

watched  him,  and  read  his  /ace  and  his  ill-humors 
and  fits  of  gloom,  and  discussed  them  in  the  ser- 
vants' hall.  And  while  he  thought  himself  quite 
secure  from  the  common  herd,  Thomas  was  tell- 
ing Jane  and  the  cook,  and  the  butler,  and  the 
housemaids  and  the  other  footmen  that  it  was  his 
opinion  that  "  the  hold  man  was  wuss  than  usual 
a-thinkin'  hover  the  capting's  boy,  an'  hantici- 
patin'  as  he  won't  be  no  credit  to  the  fambly. 
An'  serve  him  right,"  added  Thomas ;  "  hit's  'is 
hown  fault.  Wot  can  he  iggspect  from  a  child 
brought  up  in  pore  circumstances  in  that  there 
low  Hamerica?" 

And  as  the  Reverend  Mr.  Mordaunt  walked 
under  the  great  trees,  he  remembered  that  this 
questionable  little  boy  had  arrived  at  the  castle 
only  the  evening  before,  and  that  there  were  nine 
chances  to  one  that  his  lordship's  worst  fears 
were  realized,  and  twenty-two  chances  to  one  that 
if  the  poor  little  fellow  had  disappointed  him,  the 
Earl  was  even  now  in  a  tearing  rage,  and  ready 
to  vent  all  his  rancor  on  the  first  person  who 
called — which  it  appeared  probable  would  be  his 
reverend  self. 

Judge  then  of  his  amazement  when,  as  Thomas 
opened  the  library  door,  his  ears  were  greeted  by 
a  delighted  ring  of  childish  laughter. 

"  That's  two  out ! "  shouted  an  excited,  clear 
little  voice.  "  You  see  it's  two  out  1 " 


Little  Lord  Faimtleroy  137 

And  there  was  the  Earl's  chair,  and  the  gout- 
stool,  and  his  foot  on  it;  and  by  him  a  small 
table  and  a  game  on  it ;  and  quite  close  to  him 
actually  leaning  against  his  arm  and  his  ungouty 
knee,  was  a  little  boy  with  face  glowing,  and 
eyes  dancing  with  excitement.  "It's  two  out!" 
the  little  stranger  cried.  "  You  hadn't  any  luck 
that  time,  had  you  ?  " — And  then  they  both  recog- 
nized at  once  that  some  one  had  come  in. 

The  Earl  glanced  around,  knitting  his  shaggy 
eyebrows  as  he  had  a  trick  of  doing,  and  when  he 
saw  who  it  was,  Mr.  Mordaunt  was  still  more 
surprised  to  see  that  he  looked  even  less  disa- 
greeable than  usual  instead  of  more  so.  In  fact, 
he  looked  almost  as  if  he  had  forgotten  for  the 
moment  how  disagreeable  he  was,  and  how  un- 
pleasant he  really  could  make  himself  when  he 
tried. 

"  Ah ! "  he  said,  in  his  harsh  voice,  but  giving 
his  hand  rather  graciously.  "  Good  -  morning, 
Mordaunt.  I've  found  a  new  employment,  you 
see." 

He  put  his  other  hand  on  Cedric's  shoulder, — 
perhaps  deep  down  in  his  heart  there  was  a  stir 
of  gratified  pride  that  it  was  such  an  heir  he  had 
to  present ;  there  was  a  spark  of  something  like 
pleasure  in  his  eyes  as  he  moved  the  boy  slightly 
forward. 

"This  is  the  new  Lord  Fauntleroy,"  he  said. 


138  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"  Fauntleroy,  this  is  Mr.  Mordaunt,  the  rector  of 
the  parish." 

Fauntleroy  looked  up  at  the  gentleman  in  the 
clerical  garments,  and  gave  him  his  hand. 

" 1  am  very  glad  to  make  your  acquaintance, 
sir,"  he  said,  remembering  the  words  he  had 
heard  Mr.  Hobbs  use  on  one  or  two  occasions 
when  he  had  been  greeting  a  new  customer  with 
ceremony.  Cedric  felt  quite  sure  that  one  ought 
to  be  more  than  usually  polite  to  a  minister. 

Mr.  Mordaunt  held  the  small  hand  in  his  a  mo- 
ment as  he  looked  down  at  the  child's  face,  smil- 
ing involuntarily.  He  liked  the  little  fellow  from 
that  instant  —  as  in  fact  people  always  did  like 
him.  And  it  was  not  the  boy's  beauty  and  grace 
which  most  appealed  to  him ;  it  was  the  simple, 
natural  kindliness  in  the  little  lad  which  made 
any  words  he  uttered,  however  quaint  and  unex- 
pected, sound  pleasant  and  sincere.  As  the  rec- 
tor looked  at  Cedric,  he  forgot  to  think  of  the 
Earl  at  all.  Nothing  in  the  world  is  so  strong  as 
a  kind  heart,  and  somehow  this  kind  little  heart, 
though  it  was  only  the  heart  of  a  child,  seemed  to 
clear  all  the  atmosphere  of  the  big  gloomy  room 
and  make  it  brighter. 

"  I  am  delighted  to  make  your  acquaintance, 
Lord  Fauntleroy,"  said  the  rector.  "  You  made 
a  long  journey  to  come  to  us.  A  great  many 
people  will  be  glad  to  know  you  made  it  safely." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  139 

"It  was  a  long  way,"  answered  Fauntleroy, 
"  but  Dearest,  my  mother,  was  with  me  and  I 
wasn't  lonely.  Of  course  you  are  never  lonely 
if  your  mother  is  with  you ;  and  the  ship  was 
beautiful." 

"  Take  a  chair,  Mordaunt,"  said  the  Earl.  Mr. 
Mordaunt  sat  down.  He  glanced  from  Fauntle- 
roy to  the  Earl. 

"  Your  lordship  is  greatly  to  be  congratulated," 
he  said  warmly. 

But  the  Earl  plainly  had  no  intention  of  show- 
ing  his  feelings  on  the  subject. 

"  He  is  like  his  father,"  he  said  rather  gruffly. 
"  Let  us  hope  hell  conduct  himself  more  credita- 
bly." And  then  he  added :  "  Well,  what  is  it  this 
morning,  Mordaunt  ?  Who  is  in  trouble  now  ?  " 

This  was  not  as  bad  as  Mr.  Mordaunt  had  ex- 
pected, but  he  hesitated  a  second  before  he  be- 
gan. 

"  It  is  Higgins,"  he  said ;  "  Higgins  of  Edge 
Farm.  He  has  been  very  unfortunate.  He  was 
ill  himself  last  autumn,  and  his  children  had  scar- 
let fever.  I  can't  say  that  he  is  a  very  good 
manager,  but  he  has  had  ill-luck,  and  of  course  he 
is  behindhand  in  many  ways.  He  is  in  trouble 
about  his  rent  now.  Newick  tells  him  if  he 
doesn't  pay  it,  he  must  leave  the  place;  and  of 
course  that  would  be  a  very  serious  matter. 
His  wife  is  ill,  and  he  came  *<*  Hie  yesterday  to 


140  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

beg  me  to  see  about  it,  and  ask  you  for  time. 
He  thinks  if  you  would  give  him  time  he  could 
catch  up  again." 

"They  all  think  that,"  said  the  Earl,  looking 
rather  black. 

Fauntleroy  made  a  movement  forward.  He 
had  been  standing  between  his  grandfather  and 
the  visitor,  listening  with  all  his  might.  He  had 
begun  to  be  interested  in  Higgins  at  once.  He 
wondered  how  many  children  there  were,  and  if 
the  scarlet  fever  had  hurt  them  very  much.  His 
eyes  were  wide  open  and  were  fixed  upon  Mr. 
Mordaunt  with  intent  interest  as  that  gentleman 
went  on  with  the  conversation. 

"  Higgins  is  a  well-meaning  man,"  said  the  rec- 
tor, making  an  effort  to  strengthen  his  plea. 

"  He  is  a  bad  enough  tenant/*  replied  his  lord- 
ship. "And  he  is  always  behindhand,  Newick 
tells  me." 

"  He  is  in  great  trouble  now,"  said  the  rector. 
"  He  is  very  fond  of  his  wife  and  children,  and 
if  the  farm  is  taken  from  him  they  may  literally 
starve.  He  cannot  give  them  the  nourishing 
things  they  need.  Two  of  the  children  were  left 
very  low  after  the  fever,  and  the  doctor  orders 
for  them  wine  and  luxuries  that  Higgins  cannot 
afford." 

At  this  Fauntleroy  moved  a  step  nearer. 

"  That  was  the  way  with  Michael/'  he  said. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  141 

The  Earl  slightly  started. 

"  I  forgot  you  !  "  he  said.  "  I  forgot  we  had  a 
philanthropist  in  the  room.  Who  was  Michael  ?  " 
And  the  gleam  of  queer  amusement  came  back 
into  the  old  man's  deep-set  eyes. 

"  He  was  Bridget's  husband,  who  had  the  fever/' 
answered  Fauntleroy ;  "  and  he  couldn't  pay  the 
rent  or  buy  wine  and  things.  And  you  gave  me 
that  money  to  help  him." 

The  Earl  drew  his  brows  together  into  a  curious 
frown,  which  somehow  was  scarcely  grim  at  all. 
He  glanced  across  at  Mr.  Mordaunt. 

"  I  don't  know  what  sort  of  landed  proprietor 
he  will  make,"  he  said.  "  I  told  Havisham  the 
boy  was  to  have  what  he  wanted  —  anything  he 
wanted — and  what  he  wanted,  it  seems,  was  money 
to  give  to  beggars." 

"  Oh !  but  they  weren't  beggars,"  said  Fauntle- 
roy eagerly.  "  Michael  was  a  splendid  bricklayer ! 
They  all  worked." 

"  Oh ! "  said  the  Earl,  "  they  were  not  beggars. 
They  were  splendid  bricklayers,  and  bootblacks, 
and  apple-women." 

He  bent  his  gaze  on  the  boy  for  a  few  seconds 
in  silence.  The  fact  was  that  a  new  thought 
was  coming  to  him,  and  though,  perhaps,  it  was 
not  prompted  by  the  noblest  emotions,  it  was 
not  a  bad  thought.  "  Come  here,"  he  said,  at 
last. 


142  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

Fauntleroy  went  and  stood  as  near  to  him  as 
possible  without  encroaching  on  the  gouty  foot. 

"  What  would  you  do  in  this  case  ?  "  his  lordship 
asked. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  Mr.  Mordaunt  expe- 
rienced for  the  moment  a  curious  sensation.  Be- 
ing a  man  of  great  thoughtfulness,  and  having 
spent  so  many  years  on  the  estate  of  Dorincourt. 
knowing  the  tenantry,  rich  and  poor,  the  people 
of  the  village,  honest  and  industrious,  dishonest 
and  lazy,  he  realized  very  strongly  what  power 
for  good  or  evil  would  be  given  in  the  future  to 
this  one  small  boy  standing  there,  his  brown  eyes 
wide  open,  his  hands  deep  in  his  pockets ;  and  the 
thought  came  to  him  also  that  a  great  deal  of 
power  might,  perhaps,  through  the  caprice  of  a 
proud,  self-indulgent  old  man,  be  given  to  him 
now,  and  that  if  his  young  nature  were  not  a  sim- 
ple and  generous  one,  it  might  be  the  worst  thing 
that  could  happen,  not  only  for  others,  but  for 
himself. 

"  And  what  would  you  do  in  such  a  case  ?  "  de- 
manded the  Earl. 

Fauntleroy  drew  a  little  nearer,  and  laid  one 
hand  on  his  knee,  with  the  most  confiding  air  of 
good  comradeship. 

"  If  I  were  very  rich,"  he  said,  "  and  not  only 
just  a  little  boy,  I  should  let  him  stay,  and  give 
him  the  things  for  his  children ;  but  then,  I  am 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  143 

only  a  boy."  Then,  alter  a  second's  pause,  in 
which  his  face  brightened  visibly,  "You  can  do 
anything,  can't  you  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Humph ! "  said  my  lord,  staring  at  him.  "  That's 
your  opinion,  is  it  ?  "  And  he  was  not  displeased 
either. 

"  I  mean  you  can  give  any  one  anything,"  said 
Fauntleroy.  "  Who's  Newick  ?  " 

"  He  is  my  agent,"  answered  the  Earl,  "  and 
some  of  my  tenants  are  not  over-fond  of  him." 

"  Are  you  going  to  write  him  a  letter  now  ?  " 
inquired  Fauntleroy.  "  Shall  I  bring  you  the  pen 
and  ink  ?  I  can  take  the  game  off  this  table." 

It  plainly  had  not  for  an  instant  occurred  to  him 
that  Newick  would  be  allowed  to  do  his  worst. 

The  Earl  paused  a  moment,  still  looking  at  him. 
"  Can  you  write?"  he  asked. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Cedric,  "  but  not  very  well." 

"  Move  the  things  from  the  table,"  commanded 
my  lord,  "  and  bring  the  pen  and  ink,  and  a  sheet 
of  paper  from  my  desk." 

Mr.  Mordaunt's  interest  began  to  increase. 
Fauntleroy  did  as  he  was  told  very  deftly.  In  a 
few  moments,  the  sheet  of  paper,  the  big  inkstand, 
and  the  pen  were  ready. 

"  There ! "  he  said  gayly, "  now  you  can  write  it." 

"  You  are  to  write  it,"  said  the  Earl. 

"  I ! "  exclaimed  Fauntleroy,  and  a  flush  over- 
spread his  forehead.  "Will  it  do  if  I  write  it? 


144  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

I  don't  always  spell  quite  right  when  I  haven't  a 
dictionary,  and  nobody  tells  me." 

"  It  will  do,"  answered  the  Earl.  "  Higgins  will 
not  complain  of  the  spelling.  I'm  not  the  philan- 
thropist ;  you  are.  Dip  your  pen  in  the  ink." 

Fauntleroy  took  up  the  pen  and  dipped  it  in 
the  ink-bottle,  then  he  arranged  himself  in  posi- 
tion, leaning  on  the  table. 

"  Now,"  he  inquired,  "what  must  1  say?" 

"  You  may  say,  *  Higgins  is  not  to  be  interfered 
with,  for  the  present,'  and  sign  it,  '  Fauntleroy,' " 
said  the  Earl. 

Fauntleroy  dipped  his  pen  in  the  ink  again,  and 
resting  his  arm,  began  to  write.  It  was  rather  a 
slow  and  serious  process,  but  he  gave  his  whole 
soul  to  it.  After  a  while,  however,  the  manuscript 
was  complete,  and  he  handed  it  to  his  grandfather 
with  a  smile  slightly  tinged  with  anxiety. 

"  Do  you  think  it  will  do  ?  "  he  asked. 

The  Earl  looked  at  it,  and  the  corners  of  his 
mouth  twitched  a  little. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered ;  "  Higgins  will  find  it  en- 
tirely satisfactory."  And  he  handed  it  to  Mr. 
Mordaunt. 

What  Mr.  Mordaunt  found  written  was  this : 

44  Dear  mr.  Newik  if  you  pleas  mr.  higins  is  not  to  be  intur- 
feared  with  for  the  present  and  oblige 

44  Yours  rispecferly 

44  FAUNTLEROY." 


LORD   FAUNTLEROY  WRITES   A   LETTER, 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  147 

"  Mr.  Hobbs  always  signed  his  letters  that  way," 
said  Fauntleroy;  "and  I  thought  I'd  better  say 
'  please.'  Is  that  exactly  the  right  way  to  spell 
1  interfered  ? ' " 

"  It's  not  exactly  the  way  it  is  spelled  in  the  dic- 
tionary," answered  the  Earl. 

"  I  was  afraid  of  that,"  said  Fauntleroy.  "  I 
ought  to  have  asked.  You  see,  that's  the  way 
with  words  of  more  than  one  syllable ;  you  have 
to  look  in  the  dictionary.  It's  always  safest.  I'll 
write  it  over  again." 

And  write  it  over  again  he  did,  making  quite 
an  imposing  copy,  and  taking  precautions  in  the 
matter  of  spelling  by  consulting  the  Earl  himself. 

"  Spelling  is  a  curious  thing,"  he  said.  "  It's  so 
often  different  from  what  you  expect  it  to  be.  I 
used  to  think  '  please '  was  spelled  p-1-e-e-s,  but  it 
isn't,  you  know;  and  you'd  think  'dear*  was 
spelled  d-e-r-e,  if  you  didn't  inquire.  Sometimes 
it  almost  discourages  you." 

When  Mr.  Mordaunt  went  away,  he  took  the 
letter  with  him,  and  he  took  something  else  with 
him  also — namely,  a  pleasanter  feeling  and  a  more 
hopeful  one  than  he  had  ever  carried  home  with 
him  down  that  avenue  on  any  previous  visit  he 
had  made  at  Dorincourt  Castle. 

When  he  was  gone,  Fauntleroy,  who  had  ac- 
companied him  to  the  door,  went  back  to  his 
grandfather. 


?-48  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"May  I  go  to  Dearest  now?"  he  asked.  "1 
think  she  will  be  waiting  for  me." 

The  Earl  was  silent  a  moment. 

"  There  is  something  in  the  stable  for  you  to  see 
first,"  he  said.  "  Ring  the  bell." 

"  If  you  please,"  said  Fauntleroy,  with  his  quick 
little  flush.  "  I'm  very  much  obliged  ;  but  I  think 
I'd  better  see  it  to-morrow.  She  will  be  expect- 
ing me  all  the  time." 

"  Very  well,"   answered   the   Earl.     "  We  wi 
order  the  carriage."     Then  he  added  dryly,  "  It's 
a  pony." 

Fauntleroy  drew  a  long  breath. 

"  A  pony  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Whose  pony  is 
it?" 

"  Yours,"  replied  the  Earl. 

"  Mine  ?  "  cried  the  little  fellow.  "  Mine— like 
the  things  upstairs  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  his  grandfather.  "  Would  you 
like  to  see  it  ?  Shall  I  order  it  to  be  brought 
around  ? " 

Fauntleroy's  cheeks  grew  redder  and  redder. 

"  I  never  thought  I  should  have  a  pony !  "  he 
said.  "  I  never  thought  that !  How  glad  Dearest 
will  be.  You  give  me  ^wrything,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  Do  you  wish  to  see  it  ?  "  inquired  the  Earl. 

Fauntleroy  drew  a  long  breath.  "  I  want  to  see 
it,"  he  said.  "  I  want  to  see  it  so  much  I  can 
hardly  wait.  But  I'm  afraid  there  isn't  time." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  149 

"  You  must  go  and  see  your  mother  this  after- 
noon  ?  "  asked  the  Earl.  "  You  think  you  can't 
put  it  off?" 

"  Why,"  said  Fauntleroy,  "  she  has  been  think- 
ing about  me  all  the  morning,  and  I  have  been 
thinking  about  her  !  " 

"  Oh  !  "  said  the  Earl.  "  You  have,  have  you  ? 
Ring  the  bell." 

As  they  drove  down  the  avenue,  under  the 
arching  trees,  he  was  rather  silent.  But  Fauntle- 
roy was  not.  He  talked  about  the  pony.  What 
color  was  it?  How  big  was  it?  What  was  its 
name  ?  What  did  it  like  to  eat  best  ?  How  old 
was  it?  How  early  in  the  morning  might  he  get 
up  and  see  it  ? 

"  Dearest  will  be  so  glad ! "  he  kept  saying. 
"  She  will  be  so  much  obliged  to  you  for  being 
so  kind  to  me !  She  knows  I  always  liked  ponies 
so  much,  but  we  never  thought  I  should  have 
one.  There  was  a  little  boy  on  Fifth  Avenue 
who  had  one,  and  he  used  to  ride  out  every  morn- 
ing and  we  used  to  take  a  walk  past  his  house  to 
see  him." 

He  leaned  back  against  the  cushions  and  re- 
garded the  Earl  with  rapt  interest  for  a  few 
minutes  and  in  entire  silence. 

"  I  think  you  must  be  the  best  person  in  the 
world,"  he  burst  forth  at  last.  "  You  are  always 
doing  good,  aren't  you? — and  thinking  about 


150  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

other  people.  Dearest  says  that  is  the  best  kind 
of  goodness ;  not  to  think  about  yourself,  but  to 
think  about  other  people.  That  is  just  the  way 
you  are,  is  n't  it  ?  " 

His  lordship  was  so  dumfounded  to  find  him- 
self presented  in  such  agreeable  colors,  that 
he  did  not  know  exactly  what  to  say.  He  felt 
that  he  needed  time  for  reflection.  To  see  each 
of  his  ugly,  selfish  motives  changed  into  a  good 
and  generous  one  by  the  simplicity  of  a  child  was 
a  singular  experience. 

Fauntleroy  went  on,  still  regarding  him  with 
admiring  eyes — those  great,  clear,  innocent  eyes ! 

"  You  make  so  many  people  happy,"  he  said. 
"  There's  Michael  and  Bridget  and  their  ten 
children,  and  the  apple-woman,  and  Dick,  and 
Mr.  Hobbs,  and  Mr.  Higgins  and  Mrs.  Higgins 
and  their  children,  and  Mr.  Mordaunt, — because 
of  course  he  was  glad,  —  and  Dearest  and  me, 
about  the  pony  and  all  the  other  things.  Do  you 
know  I've  counted  it  up  on  my  fingers  and  in 
my  mind,  and  it's  twenty -seven  people  you've 
been  kind  to.  That's  a  good  many  —  twenty- 
seven  ! " 

"  And  I  was  the  person  who  was  kind  to  them 
— was  I  ?  "  said  the  Earl. 

"  Why,  yes,  you  know,"  answered  Fauntleroy. 
"  You  made  them  all  happy.  Do  you  know," 
with  some  delicate  hesitation,  "  that  people  are 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  151 

sunietimes  mistaken  about  earls  when  they  don't 
know  them.  Mr.  Hobbs  was.  I  am  going  to 
write  him,  and  tell  him  about  it." 

"  What  was  Mr.  Hobbs's  opinion  of  earls  ? " 
asked  his  lordship. 

"  Well,  you  see,  the  difficulty  was,"  replied  his 
young  companion,  "  that  he  didn't  know  any, 
and  he'd  only  read  about  them  in  books.  He 
thought — you  mustn't  mind  it — that  they  were 
gory  tyrants ;  and  he  said  he  wouldn't  have  them 
hanging  around  his  store.  But  if  he'd  known 
you,  I'm  sure  he  would  have  felt  quite  different. 
I  shall  tell  him  about  you." 

"  What  shall  you  tell  him  ?  " 

"  I  shall  tell  him,"  said  Fauntleroy,  glowing 
with  enthusiasm,  "  that  you  are  the  kindest  man  I 
ever  heard  of.  And  you  are  always  thinking  of 
other  people,  and  making  them  happy  and — and 
I  hope  when  I  grow  up,  I  shall  be  just  like  you." 

"  Just  like  me  !  "  repeated  his  lordship,  looking 
at  the  little  kindling  face.  And  a  dull  red  crept 
up  under  his  withered  skin,  and  he  suddenly 
turned  his  eyes  away  and  looked  out  of  the  car- 
riage window  at  the  great  beech-trees,  with  the 
sun  shining  on  their  glossy,  red-brown  leaves. 

"Just  like  you,"  said  Fauntleroy,  adding 
modestly,  "  if  I  can.  Perhaps  I'm  not  good 
enough,  but  I'm  going  to  try." 

The    carriage    rolled    on    down    the    stately 


152  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

avenue  under  tlie  beautiful,  broad-branched  trees, 
through  the  spaces  of  green  shade  and  lanes  of 
golden  sunlight.  Fauntleroy  saw  again  the  love- 
ly places  where  the  ferns  grew  high  and  the  blue- 
bells swayed  in  the  breeze ;  he  saw  the  deer, 
standing  or  lying  in  the  deep  grass,  turn  their 
large,  startled  eyes  as  the  carriage  passed,  and 
caught  glimpses  of  the  brown  rabbits  as  they 
scurried  away.  He  heard  the  whir  of  the  par- 
tridges and  the  calls  and  songs  of  the  birds,  and 
it  all  seemed  even  more  beautiful  to  him  than  be- 
fore. All  his  heart  was  filled  with  pleasure  and 
happiness  in  the  beauty  that  was  on  every  side. 
But  the  old  Earl  saw  and  heard  very  different 
things,  though  he  was  apparently  looking  out  too. 
He  saw  a  long  life,  in  which  there  had  been 
neither  generous  deeds  nor  kind  thoughts  ;  he 
saw  years  in  which  a  man  who  had  been  young 
and  strong  and  rich  and  powerful  had  used  his 
youth  and  strength  and  wealth  and  power  only 
to  please  himself  and  kill  time  as  the  days  and 
years  succeeded  each  other;  he  saw  this  man, 
when  the  time  had  been  killed  and  old  age  had 
come,  solitary  and  without  real  friends  in  the 
midst  of  all  his  splendid  wealth ;  he  saw  people 
who  disliked  or  feared  him,  and  people  who 
would  flatter  and  cringe  to  him,  but  no  one  who 
really  cared  whether  he  lived  or  died,  unless  they 
had  something  to  gain  or  lose  by  it.  He  looked 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  153 

out  uu  the  broad  acres  which  belonged  to  him, 
and  he  knew  what  Fauntleroy  did  not — how  far 
they  extended,  what  wealth  they  represented, 
and  how  many  people  had  homes  on  their  soil. 
And  he  knew,  too, — another  thing  Fauntleroy  did 
not, — that  in  all  those  homes,  humble  or  well-to- 
do,  there  was  probably  not  one  person,  however 
much  he  envied  the  wealth  and  stately  name  and 
power,  and  however  willing  he  would  have  been 
to  possess  them,  who  would  for  an  instant  have 
thought  of  calling  the  noble  owner  "  good,"  or 
wishing,  as  this  simple-souled  little  boy  had,  to  be 
like  him. 

And  it  was  not  exactly  pleasant  to  reflect  upon, 
even  for  a  cynical,  worldly  old  man,  who  had  been 
sufficient  unto  himself  for  seventy  years  and  who 
had  never  deigned  to  care  what  opinion  the  world 
held  of  him  so  long  as  it  did  not  interfere  with  his 
comfort  or  entertainment.  And  the  fact  was,  in- 
deed, that  he  had  never  before  condescended  to 
reflect  upon  it  at  all ;  and  he  only  did  so  now  be- 
cause a  child  had  believed  him  better  than  he 
was,  and  by  wishing  to  follow  in  his  illustrious 
footsteps  and  imitate  his  example,  had  suggested 
to  him  the  curious  question  whether  he  vas  ex- 
actly the  person  to  take  as  a  model. 

Fauntleroy  thought  the  Earl's  foot  must  be 
hurting  him,  his  brows  knitted  themselves  to- 
gether so,  as  he  looked  out  at  the  park;  and 


154  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

thinking  this,  the  considerate  little  fellow  tried 
not  to  disturb  him,  and  enjoyed  the  trees  and  the 
ferns  and  the  deer  in  silence.  But  at  last  the 
carriage,  having  passed  the  gates  and  bowled 
through  the  green  lanes  for  a  short  distance, 
stopped.  They  had  reached  Court  Lodge  ;  and 
Fauntleroy  was  out  upon  the  ground  almost  be- 
fore the  big  footman  had  time  to  open  the  car- 
riage door. 

The  Earl  wakened  from  his  reverie  with  a 
start. 

"  What ! "  he  said.     "  Are  we  here  ?  " 

"  Yes/'  said  Fauntleroy.  "  Let  me  give  you 
your  stick.  Just  lean  on  me  when  you  get  out.'* 

"  I  am  not  going  to  get  out,"  replied  his  lord- 
ship brusquely. 

"  Not — not  to  see  Dearest  ?  "  exclaimed  Faunt- 
leroy with  astonished  face. 

"  '  Dearest '  will  excuse  me,"  said  the  Earl  dry- 
ly.  "  Go  to  her  and  tell  her  that  not  even  a  new 
pony  would  keep  you  away." 

"  She  will  be  disappointed,"  said  Fauntleroy. 
"  She  will  want  to  see  you  very  much." 

"  I  am  afraid  not,"  was  the  answer.  "  The 
carriage  will  call  for  you  as  we  come  back. — Tell 
Jeffries  to  drive  on,  Thomas." 

Thomas  closed  the  carriage  door;  and,  after  a 
puzzled  look,  Fauntleroy  ran  up  the  drive.  The 
Earl  had  the  opportunity — as  Mr.  Havisham  once 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  155 

had — of  seeing  a  pair  of  handsome,  strong  little 
legs  flash  over  the  ground  with  astonishing 
rapidity.  Evidently  their  owner  had  no  intention 
of  losing  any  time.  The  carriage  rolled  slowly 
away,  but  his  lordship  did  not  at  once  lean  back  ; 
he  still  looked  out.  Through  a  space  in  the  trees 
he  could  see  the  house  door ;  it  was  wide  open. 
The  little  figure  dashed  up  the  steps ;  another 
figure — a  little  figure,  too,  slender  and  young,  in 
its  black  gown — ran  to  meet  it.  It  seemed  as  if 
they  flew  together,  as  Fauntleroy  leaped  into  his 
mother's  arms,  hanging  about  her  neck  and  cover* 
ing  her  sweet  young  face  with  kisses. 


VII 

ON  the  following  Sunday  morning,  Mr.  Mor- 
daunt  had  a  large  congregation.  Indeed,  he 
could  scarcely  remember  any  Sunday  on  which 
the  church  had  been  so  crowded.  People  ap- 
peared upon  the  scene  who  seldom  did  him  the 
honor  of  coming  to  hear  his  sermons.  There 
were  even  people  from  Hazelton,  which  was  the 
next  parish.  There  were  hearty,  sunburned 
farmers,  stout,  comfortable,  apple-cheeked  wives 
in  their  best  bonnets  and  most  gorgeous  shawls, 
and  half  a  dozen  children  or  so  to  each  family. 
The  doctor's  wife  was  there,  with  her  four 
daughters.  Mrs.  Kimsey  and  Mr.  Kimsey,  who 
kept  the  druggist's  shop,  and  made  pills,  and  did 
up  powders  for  everybody  within  ten  miles,  sat 
in  their  pew;  Mrs.  Dibble  in  hers;  Miss  Smiff, 
the  village  dressmaker,  and  her  friend  Miss  Per- 
kins, the  milliner,  sat  in  theirs;  the  doctor's 
young  man  was  present,  and  the  druggist's 
apprentice ;  in  fact,  almost  every  family  on  the 
county  side  was  represented,  in  one  way  or 
another. 

In  the  course    of  the  preceding   week,  many 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  157 

wonderful  stories  had  been  told  of  little  Lord 
Fauntleroy.  Mrs.  Dibble  had  been  kept  so  busy 
attending  to  customers  who  came  in  to  buy  a 
pennyworth  of  needles  or  a  ha'porth  of  tape  and 
to  hear  what  she  had  to  relate,  that  the  little  shop 
bell  over  the  door  had  nearly  tinkled  itself  to 
death  over  the  coming  and  going.  Mrs.  Dibble 
knew  exactly  how  his  small  lordship's  rooms  had 
been  furnished  for  him,  what  expensive  toys  had 
been  bought,  how  there  was  a  beautiful  brown 
pony  awaiting  him,  and  a  small  groom  to  attend 
it,  and  a  little  dog-cart,  with  silver-mounted  har- 
ness. And  she  could  tell,  too,  what  all  the 
servants  had  said  when  they  had  caught  glimpses 
of  the  child  on  the  night  of  his  arrival;  and  how 
every  female  below  stairs  had  said  it  was  a  shame, 
so  it  was,  to  part  the  poor  pretty  dear  from  his 
mother ;  and  had  all  declared  their  hearts  came 
into  their  mouths  when  he  went  alone  into  the 
library  to  see  his  grandfather,  for  "  there  was  no 
knowing  how  he'd  be  treated,  and  his  lordship's 
temper  was  enough  to  fluster  them  with  old 
heads  on  their  shoulders,  let  alone  a  child." 

"  But  if  you'll  believe  me,  Mrs.  Jennifer,  mum," 
Mrs.  Dibble  had  said,  "  fear  that  child  does  not 
know — so  Mr.  Thomas  hisself  says;  an'  set  an* 
smile  he  did,  an'  talked  to  his  lordship  as  if  they'd 
been  friends  ever  since  his  first  hour.  An*  the 
Earl  so  took  aback,  Mr.  Thomas  says,  that  he 


158  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

couldn't  do  nothing  but  listen  and  stare  from  un. 
der  his  eyebrows.  An*  it's  Mr.  Thomas's  opinion, 
Mrs.  Bates,  mum,  that  bad  as  he  is,  he  was 
pleased  in  his  secret  soul,  an'  proud,  too;  for  a 
handsomer  little  fellow,  or  with  better  manners, 
though  so  old-fashioned,  Mr.  Thomas  says  he'd 
never  wish  to  see." 

And  then  there  had  come  the  story  of  Higgins. 
The  Reverend  Mr.  Mordaunt  had  told  it  at  his 
own  dinner  table,  and  the  servants  who  had 
heard  it  had  told  it  in  the  kitchen,  and  from  there 
it  had  spread  like  wildfire. 

And  on  market-day,  when  Higgins  had  ap- 
peared in  town,  he  had  been  questioned  on  every 
side,  and  Newick  had  been  questioned  too,  and  in 
response  had  shown  to  two  or  three  people  the 
note  signed  "  Fauntleroy." 

And  so  the  farmers'  wives  had  found  plenty  to 
talk  of  over  their  tea  and  their  shopping,  and 
they  had  done  the  subject  full  justice  and  made 
the  most  of  it.  And  on  Sunday  they  had  either 
walked  to  church  or  had  been  driven  in  their 
gigs  by  their  husbands,  who  were  perhaps  a  trifle 
curious  themselves  about  the  new  little  lord  who 
was  to  be  in  time  the  owner  of  the  soil. 

It  was  by  no  means  the  Earl's  habit  to  attend 
church,  but  he  chose  to  appear  on  this  first  Sun- 
day— it  was  his  whim  to  present  himself  in  the 
huge  family  pew,  with  Fauntleroy  at  his  side. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  159 

There  were  many  loiterers  in  the  churchyard, 
and  many  lingerers  in  the  lane  that  morning. 
There  were  groups  at  the  gates  and  in  the  porch, 
and  there  had  been  much  discussion  as  to 
whether  my  lord  would  really  appear  or  not. 
When  this  discussion  was  at  its  height,  one  good 
woman  suddenly  uttered  an  exclamation. 

"  Eh,"  she  said,  "  that  must  be  the  mother, 
pretty  young  thing." 

All  who  heard  turned  and  looked  at  the  slender 
figure  in  black  coming  up  the  path.  The  veil 
was  thrown  back  from  her  face  and  they  could 
see  how  fair  and  sweet  it  was,  and  how  the  bright 
hair  curled  as  softly  as  a  child's  under  the  little 
widow's  cap. 

She  was  not  thinking  of  the  people  about  f  she 
was  thinking  of  Cedric,  and  of  his  visits  to  her, 
and  his  joy  over  his  new  pony,  on  which  he  had 
actually  ridden  to  her  door  the  day  before,  sit- 
ting very  straight  and  looking  very  proud  and 
happy.  But  soon  she  could  not  help  being 
attracted  by  the  fact  that  she  was  being  looked 
at  and  that  her  arrival  had  created  some  sort  of 
sensation.  She  first  noticed  it  because  an  old 
woman  in  a  red  cloak  make  a  bobbing  courtesy 
to  her,  and  then  another  did  the  same  thing  and 
said,  "  God  bless  you,  my  lady  ! "  and  one  man 
after  another  took  off  his  hat  as  she  passed.  For 
a  moment  she  did  not  understand,  and  then  she 


160  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

realized  that  it  was  because  she  was  little  Lord 
Fauntleroy's  mother  that  they  did  so,  and  she 
flushed  rather  shyly  and  smiled  and  bowed  too, 
and  said,  "  Thank  you,"  in  a  gentle  voice  to  the  old 
woman  who  had  blessed  her.  To  a  person  who 
had  always  lived  in  a  bustling,  crowded  American 
city  this  simple  deference  was  very  novel,  and  at 
first  just  a  little  embarrassing  ;  but  after  all,  she 
could  not  help  liking  and  being  touched  by  the 
friendly  warm-heartedness  of  which  it  seemed  to 
speak.  She  had  scarcely  passed  through  the 
stone  porch  into  the  church  before  the  great 
event  of  the  day  happened.  The  carriage  from 
the  castle,  with  its  handsome  horses  and  tall 
liveried  servants,  bowled  around  the  corner  and 
down  the  green  lane. 

"  Here  they  come ! "  went  from  one  looker-on 
to  another. 

And  then  the  carriage  drew  up,  and  Thomas 
stepped  down  and  opened  the  door,  and  a  little 
boy,  dressed  in  black  velvet,  and  with  a  splendid 
mop  of  bright  waving  hair,  jumped  out. 

Every  man,  woman,  and  child  looked  curiously 
upon  him. 

"  He's  the  captain  over  again ! "  said  those  of 
the  on -lookers  who  remembered  his  father. 
"  He's  the  captain's  self,  to  the  life !  " 

He  stood  there  in  the  sunlight  looking  up  at 
the  Earl,  as  Thomas  helped  that  nobleman  out, 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  161 

with  the  most  affectionate  interest  that  could  be 
imagined.  The  instant  he  could  help,  he  put  out 
his  hand  and  offered  his  shoulder  as  if  he  had 
been  seven  feet  high.  It  was  plain  enough  to 
every  one  that  however  it  might  be  with  other 
people,  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt  struck  no  terror 
into  the  breast  of  his  grandson. 

"  Just  lean  on  me,"  they  heard  him  say.  "  How 
glad  the  people  are  to  see  you,  and  how  well  they 
all  seem  to  know  you ! " 

"  Take  off  your  cap,  Fauntleroy,"  said  the  Earl. 
"  They  are  bowing  to  you." 

"  To  me  ! "  cried  Fauntleroy,  whipping  off  his 
cap  in  a  moment,  baring  his  bright  head  to 
the  crowd  and  turning  shining,  puzzled  eyes 
on  them  as  he  tried  to  bow  to  every  one  at 
once. 

"  God  bless  your  lordship ! "  said  the  courtesy- 
ing,  red-cloaked  old  woman  who  had  spoken  to 
h?.s  mother;  " long  life  to  you ! " 

"  Thank  you,  ma'am/'  said  Fauntleroy.  And 
then  they  went  into  the  church,  and  were  looked 
at  there,  on  their  way  up  the  aisle  to  the  square, 
red-cushioned  and  curtained  pew.  When  Faunt- 
leroy was  fairly  seated,  he  made  two  discoveries 
which  pleased  him:  the  first  that,  across  the 
church  where  he  could  look  at  her,  his  mother 
sat  and  smiled  at  him  ;  the  second,  that  at  one 
end  of  the  pew,  against  the  wall,  knelt  two  quaint 
zt 


162 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 


figures  carven  in  stone,  facing  each  other  as  they 
kneeled  on  either  side  of  a  pillar  supporting  two 
stone  missals,  their  pointed  hands  folded  as  if  in 


prayer,  their  dress  very  antique  and  strange.  On 
the  tablet  by  them  was  written  something  of 
which  he  could  only  read  the  curious  words : 

"  Here  lyeth  ye  bodye  of  Gregorye  Arthure 
Fyrst  Earle  of  Dorincourt  Allsoe  of  Alisone 
Hildegarde  hys  wyfe." 

"  May  I  whisper  ? "  inquired  his  lordship,  de- 
voured by  curiosity. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  said  his  grandfather. 

"  Who  are  they?" 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  163 

"  Some  of  your  ancestors,"  answered  the  Earl, 
"  who  lived  a  few  hundred  years  ago." 

"  Perhaps,"  said  Lord  Fauntleroy,  regarding 
them  with  respect,  "  perhaps  I  got  my  spelling 
from  them."  And  then  he  proceeded  to  find  his 
place  in  the  church  service.  When  the  music 
began,  he  stood  up  and  looked  across  at  his 
mother,  smiling.  He  was  very  fond  of  music, 
and  his  mother  and  he  often  sang  together,  so  he 
joined  in  with  the  rest,  his  pure,  sweet,  high 
voice  rising  as  clear  as  the  song  of  a  bird.  He 
quite  forgot  himself  in  his  pleasure  in  it.  The 
Earl  forgot  himself  a  little  too,  as  he  sat  in  his 
curtain-shielded  corner  of  the  pew  and  watched 
the  boy.  Cedric  stood  with  the  big  psalter  open 
in  his  hands,  singing  with  all  his  childish  might, 
his  face  a  little  uplifted,  happily  ;  and  as  he  sang, 
a  long  ray  of  sunshine  crept  in  and,  slanting 
through  a  golden  pane  of  a  stained  glass  window, 
brightened  the  falling  hair  about  his  young  head. 
His  mother,  as  she  looked  at  him  across  the 
church,  felt  a  thrill  pass  through  her  heart,  and  a 
prayer  rose  in  it  too, — a  prayer  that  the  pure, 
simple  happiness  of  his  childish  soul  might  last, 
and  that  the  strange,  great  fortune  which  had 
fallen  to  him  might  bring  no  wrong  or  evil  with 
it.  There  were  many  soft,  anxious  thoughts  in 
her  tender  heart  in  those  new  days. 

"  Oh,  Ceddie  1 "  she  nad  said  to  him  the  even. 


164  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

ing  before,  as  she  hung  over  him  in  saying  good- 
night,  before  he  went  away ;  "  oh,  Ceddie,  dear,  I 
wish  for  your  sake  I  was  very  clever  and  could 
say  a  great  many  wise  things  !  But  only  be  good, 
dear,  only  be  brave,  only  be  kind  and  true  al- 
ways, and  then  you  will  never  hurt  any  one,  so 
long  as  you  live,  and  you  may  help  many,  and 
the  big  world  may  be  better  because  my  little 
child  was  born.  And  that  is  best  of  all,  Ceddie, 
— it  is  better  than  everything  else,  that  the  world 
should  be  a  little  better  because  a  man  has  lived 
— even  ever  so  little  better,  dearest." 

And  on  his  return  to  the  castle,  Fauntleroy 
had  repeated  her  words  to  his  grandfather. 

"  And  I  thought  about  you  when  she  said  that," 
he  ended  ;  "  and  I  told  her  that  was  the  way  the 
world  was  because  you  had  lived,  and  I  was  go- 
ing  to  try  if  I  could  be  like  you." 

"And  what  did  she  say  to  that?"  asked  his 
lordship,  a  trifle  uneasily. 

"  She  said  that  was  right,  and  we  must  always 
look  for  good  in  people  and  try  to  be  like  it." 

Perhaps  it  was  this  the  old  man  remembered 
as  he  glanced  through  the  divided  folds  of  the 
red  curtain  of  his  pew.  Many  times  he  looked 
over  the  people's  heads  to  where  his  son's  wife 
sat  alone,  and  he  saw  the  fair  face  the  unforgiven 
dead  had  loved,  and  the  eyes  which  were  so  like 
those  of  the  child  at  his  side;  but  what  his 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  165 

thoughts  were,  and  whether  they  were  hard  and 
bitter,  or  softened  a  little,  it  would  have  been 
hard  to  discover. 

As  they  came  out  of  church,  many  of  those 
who  had  attended  the  service  stood  waiting  to 
see  them  pass.  As  they  neared  the  gate,  a  man 
who  stood  with  his  hat  in  his  hand  made  a  step 
forward  and  then  hesitated.  He  was  a  middle- 
aged  farmer,  with  a  careworn  face. 

"  Well,  Higgins,"  said  the  Earl. 

Fauntleroy  turned  quickly  to  look  at  him. 

"  Oh !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  is  it  Mr.  Higgins  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  the  Earl  dryly ;  "  and  I  sup- 
pose he  came  to  take  a  look  at  his  new  landlord." 

"  Yes,  my  lord,"  said  the  man,  his  sunburned 
face  reddening.  "  Mr.  Newick  told  me  his  young 
lordship  was  kind  enough  to  speak  for  me,  and 
I  thought  I'd  like  to  say  a  word  of  thanks,  if  I 
might  be  allowed." 

Perhaps  he  felt  some  wonder  when  he  saw  what 
a  little  fellow  it  was  who  had  innocently  done  so 
much  for  him,  and  who  stood  there  looking  up 
just  as  one  of  his  own  less  fortunate  children 
might  have  done — apparently  not  realizing  his 
own  importance  in  the  least. 

"  I've  a  great  deal  to  thank  your  lordship  for," 
he  said ;  "  a  great  deal.  I " 

"  Oh,"  said  Fauntleroy ;  "  I  only  wrote  the  let- 
ter. It  was  my  grandfather  who  did  it.  But  you 


1 66  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

know  how  he  is  about  always  being  good  to 
everybody.  Is  Mrs.  Higgins  well  now  ?  " 

Higgins  looked  a  trifle  taken  aback.  He  also 
was  somewhat  startled  at  hearing  his  noble  land- 
lord presented  in  the  character  of  a  benevolent 
being,  full  of  engaging  qualities. 

"  I — well,  yes,  your  lordship,"  he  stammered, 
"  the  missus  is  better  since  the  trouble  was  took 
off  her  mind.  It  was  worrying  broke  her  down." 

"I'm  glad  of  that,"  said  Fauntleroy.  "  My 
grandfather  was  very  sorry  about  your  children 
having  the  scarlet  fever,  and  so  was  I.  He  has 
had  children  himself.  I'm  his  son's  little  boy,  you 
know." 

Higgins  was  on  the  verge  of  being  panic- 
stricken.  He  felt  it  would  be  the  safer  and  more 
discreet  plan  not  to  look  at  the  Earl,  as  it  had 
been  well  known  that  his  fatherly  affection  for  his 
sons  had  been  such  that  he  had  seen  them  about 
twice  a  year,  and  that  when  they  had  been  ill,  he 
had  promptly  departed  for  London,  because  he 
would  not  be  bored  with  doctors  and  nurses.  It 
was  a  little  trying,  therefore,  to  his  lordship's 
nerves  to  be  told,  while  he  looked  on,  his  eyes 
gleaming  from  under  his  shaggy  eyebrows,  that 
he  felt  an  interest  in  scarlet  fever. 

"  You  see,  Higgins,"  broke  in  the  Earl  with  a 
fine  grim  smile,  "  you  people  have  been  mistaken 
in  me.  Lord  Fauntleroy  understands  me.  When 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  169 

you  want  reliable  information  on  the  subject  of 
my  character,  apply  to  him.  Get  into  the  car- 
riage, Fauntleroy." 

And  Fauntleroy  jumped  in,  and  the  carriage 
rolled  away  down  the  green  lane,  and  even  when 
it  turned  the  corner  into  the  high  road,  the  Earl 
was  still  grimly  smiling. 


VIII 

LORD  DORINCOURT  had  occasion  to  wear  his 
grim  smile  many  a  time  as  the  days  passed  by. 
Indeed,  as  his  acquaintance  with  his  grandson 
progressed,  he  wore  the  smile  so  often  that  there 
were  moments  when  it  almost  lost  its  grimness. 
There  is  no  denying  that  before  Lord  Fauntleroy 
had  appeared  on  the  scene,  the  old  man  had  been 
growing  very  tired  of  his  loneliness  and  his  gout 
and  his  seventy  years.  After  so  long  a  life  of  ex, 
citement  and  amusement,  it  was  not  agreeable  tc 
sit  alone  even  in  the  most  splendid  room,  with 
one  foot  on  a  gout-stool,  and  with  no  other  diver 
sion  than  flying  into  a  rage,  and  shouting  at  a 
frightened  footman  who  hated  the  sight  of  him 
The  old  Earl  was  too  clever  a  man  not  to  knovr 
perfectly  well  that  his  servants  detested  him,  and 
that  even  if  he  had  visitors,  they  did  not  come 
for  love  of  him — though  some  found  a  sort  of 
amusement  in  his  sharp,  sarcastic  talk,  which 
spared  no  one.  So  long  as  he  had  been  strong 
and  well,  he  had  gone  from  one  place  to  another, 
pretending  to  amuse  himself,  though  he  had  not 
really  enjoyed  it;  and  when  his  health  began  to 


Little  Lord  Fauntlerop  171 

fail,  he  felt  tired  of  everything  and  shut  himself 
up  at  Dorincourt,  with  his  gout  and  his  news- 
papers and  his  books.  But  he  could  not  read  all 
the  time,  and  he  became  more  and  more  "  bored," 
as  he  called  it.  He  hated  the  long  nights  and 
days,  and  he  grew  more  and  more  savage  and  ir- 
ritable. And  then  Fauntleroy  came;  and  when 
the  Earl  saw  him,  fortunately  for  the  little  fellow, 
the  secret  pride  of  the  grandfather  was  gratified 
at  the  outset.  If  Cedric  had  been  a  less  handsome 
little  fellow,  the  old  man  might  have  taken  so 
strong  a  dislike  to  him  that  he  would  not  have 
given  himself  the  chance  to  see  his  grandson's 
finer  qualities.  But  he  chose  to  think  that  Ced- 
ric's  beauty  and  fearless  spirit  were  the  results 
of  the  Dorincourt  blood  and  a  credit  to  the  Dorin- 
court rank.  And  then  when  he  heard  the  lad  talk, 
and  saw  what  a  well-bred  little  fellow  he  was,  not- 
withstanding his  boyish  ignorance  of  all  that  his 
new  position  meant,  the  old  Earl  liked  his  grand- 
son more,  and  actually  began  to  find  himself 
rather  entertained.  It  had  amused  him  to  give 
into  those  childish  hands  the  power  to  bestow  a 
benefit  on  poor  Higgins.  My  lord  cared  nothing 
for  poor  Higgins,  but  it  pleased  him  a  little  to 
think  that  his  grandson  would  be  talked  about  by 
the  country  people  and  would  begin  to  be  popular 
with  the  tenantry,  even  in  his  childhood.  Then  it 
had  gratified  him  to  drive  to  church  with  Cedric 


172  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

and  to  see  the  excitement  and  interest  caused  by 
the  arrival  He  knew  how  the  people  would 
speak  of  the  beauty  of  the  little  lad  ;  of  his  fine, 
strong,  straight  body ;  of  his  erect  bearing,  his 
handsome  face,  and  his  bright  hair,  and  how  they 
would  say  (as  the  Earl  had  heard  one  woman  ex- 
claim  to  another)  that  the  boy  was  "  every  inch  a 
lord."  My  lord  of  Dorincourt  was  an  arrogant 
old  man,  proud  of  his  name,  proud  of  his  rank, 
and  therefore  proud  to  show  the  world  that  at 
last  the  House  of  Dorincourt  had  an  heir  who 
was  worthy  of  the  position  he  was  to  fill. 

The  morning  the  new  pony  had  been  tried,  the 
Earl  had  been  so  pleased  that  he  had  almost  for- 
gotten his  gout.  When  the  groom  had  brought 
out  the  pretty  creature,  which  arched  its  brown, 
glossy  neck  and  tossed  its  fine  head  in  the  sun, 
the  Earl  had  sat  at  the  open  window  of  the  library 
and  had  looked  on  while  Fauntleroy  took  his  first 
riding  lesson.  He  wondered  if  the  boy  would 
show  signs  of  timidity.  It  was  not  a  very  small 
pony,  and  he  had  often  seen  children  lose  courage 
in  making  their  first  essay  at  riding. 

Fauntleroy  mounted  in  great  delight.  He  had 
never  been  on  a  pony  before,  and  he  was  in  the 
highest  spirits.  Wilkins,  the  groom,  led  the  ani- 
mal by  the  bridle  up  and  down  before  the  library 
window. 

"  He's  a  well  plucked  un,   he  is,"  Wilkins  re- 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  173 

marked  in  the  stable  afterward  with  many  grins. 
"  It  weren't  no  trouble  to  put  him  up.  An*  a  old 
un  wouldn't  ha*  sat  any  straighter  when  he  were 
up.  He  ses — ses  he  to  me, '  Wilkins/  he  ses,  '  am 
I  sitting  up  straight  ?  They  sit  up  straight  at  the 
circus/  ses  he.  An*  I  ses, '  As  straight  as  a  arrer, 
your  lordship ! ' — an*  he  laughs,  as  pleased  as  could 
be,  an*  he  ses,  '  That's  right/  he  ses,  *  you  tell  me  if 
I  don't  sit  up  straight,  Wilkins ! '  " 

But  sitting  up  straight  and  being  led  at  a  walk 
were  not  altogether  and  completely  satisfactory. 
After  a  few  minutes,  Fauntleroy  spoke  to  his 
grandfather — watching  him  from  the  window : 

"  Can't  I  go  by  myself?  "  he  asked ;  "  and  can't 
I  go  faster?  The  boy  on  Fifth  Avenue  used  to 
trot  and  canter ! '' 

"Do  you  think  you  could  trot  and  canter?" 
said  the  Earl. 

"  I  should  like  to  try/'  answered  Fauntleroy. 

His  lordship  made  a  sign  to  Wilkins,  who  at  the 
signal  brought  up  his  own  horse  and  mounted  it 
and  took  Fauntleroy's  pony  by  the  leading-rein. 

"  Now,"  said  the  Earl,  "  let  him  trot." 

The  next  few  minutes  were  rather  exciting  to 
the  small  equestrian.  He  found  that  trotting  was 
not  so  easy  as  walking,  and  the  faster  the  pony 
trotted,  the  less  easy  it  was. 

"  It  j-jolts  a  g-goo-good  deal — do-doesn't  it?  w 
he  said  to  Wilkins.  "  D-does  it  j-jolt  y-you  ?  " 


174  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"No,  my  lord,"  answered  Wilkins.  "You'll 
get  used  to  it  in  time.  Rise  in  your  stirrups." 

"  I'm  ri-rising  all  the  t-time,"  said  Fauntleroy. 

He  was  both  rising  and  falling  rather  uncom- 
fortably and  with  many  shakes  and  bounces.  He 
was  out  of  breath  and  his  face  grew  red,  but  he 
held  on  with  all  his  might,  and  sat  as  straight  as 
he  could.  The  Earl  could  see  that  from  his  win- 
dow. When  the  riders  came  back  within  speak- 
ing distance,  after  they  had  been  hidden  by  the 
trees  a  few  minutes,  Fauntleroy's  hat  was  off,  his 
cheeks  were  like  poppies,  and  his  lips  were  set, 
but  he  was  still  trotting  manfully. 

"Stop  a  minute!"  said  his  grandfather. 
"  Where's  your  hat  ?  " 

Wilkins  touched  his.  "  It  fell  off,  your  lord- 
ship,"  he  said,  with  evident  enjoyment.  "  Wouldn't 
let  me  stop  to  pick  it  up,  my  lord." 

"  Not  much  afraid,  is  he  ? "  asked  the  Earl 
dryly. 

"  Him,  your  lordship !"  exclaimed  Wilkins.  "  I 
shouldn't  say  as  he  knowed  what  it  meant.  I've 
taught  young  gen'lemen  to  ride  afore,  an*  I  never 
see  one  stick  on  more  determinder." 

"  Tired  ?  "  said  the  Earl  to  Fauntleroy.  "  Want 
to  get  off  ?  " 

"  It  jolts  you  more  than  you  think  it  will,"  ad- 
mitted his  young  lordship  frankly.  "  And  it  tires 
you  a  little,  too ;  but  I  don't  want  to  get  off.  I 


WILKINS  WAS  CARRYING  HIS  HAT  FOR  HIM,   AND  HIS  HAIR  WAS  PLY- 
ING, BUT  HE  CAME  BACK  AT  A  BRISK  CANTER." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  177 

want  to  learn  how.  As  soon  as  I've  got  my 
breath  I  want  to  go  back  for  the  hat." 

The  cleverest  person  in  the  world,  if  he  had 
undertaken  to  teach  Fauntleroy  how  to  please  the 
old  man  who  watched  him,  could  not  have  taught 
him  anything  which  would  have  succeeded  better. 
As  the  pony  trotted  off  again  toward  the  avenue, 
a  faint  color  crept  up  in  the  fierce  old  face,  and 
the  eyes,  under  the  shaggy  brows,  gleamed  with 
a  pleasure  such  as  his  lordship  had  scarcely  ex- 
pected  to  know  again.  And  he  sat  and  watched 
quite  eagerly  until  the  sound  of  the  horses'  hoofs 
returned.  When  they  did  come,  which  was  after 
some  time,  they  came  at  a  faster  pace.  Fauntle- 
roy's  hat  was  still  off ;  Wilkins  was  carrying  it 
for  him ;  his  cheeks  were  redder  than  before,  and 
his  hair  was  flying  about  his  ears,  but  he  came  at 
quite  a  brisk  canter. 

"  There  ! "  he  panted,  as  they  drew  up,  "  I 
c-cantered.  I  didn't  do  it  as  well  as  the  boy  on 
Fifth  Avenue,  but  I  did  it,  and  I  stayed  on ! " 

He  and  Wilkins  and  the  pony  were  close  friends 
after  that.  Scarcely  a  day  passed  in  which  the 
country  people  did  not  see  them  out  together, 
cantering  gayly  on  the  highroad  or  through  the 
green  lanes.  The  children  in  the  cottages  would 
run  to  the  door  to  look  at  the  proud  little  brown 
pony  with  the  gallant  little  figure  sitting  so 
straight  in  the  saddle,  and  the  young  lord  would 
H 


178  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

snatch  off  his  cap  and  swing  it  at  them,  and  shout, 
"  Hullo  !  Good-morning  !  "  in  a  very  unlordly 
manner,  though  with  great  heartiness.  Some- 
times he  would  stop  and  talk  with  the  children, 
and  once  Wilkins  came  back  to  the  castle  with  a 
story  of  how  Fauntleroy  had  insisted  on  dismount- 
ing near  the  village  school,  so  that  a  boy  who  was 
lame  and  tired  might  ride  home  on  his  pony. 

"  An*  I'm  blessed,"  said  Wilkins,  in  telling  the 
story  at  the  stables, — "  I'm  blessed  if  he'd  hear  of 
anything  else !  He  wouldn't  let  me  get  down, 
because  he  said  the  boy  mightn't  feel  comfortable 
on  a  big  horse.  An*  ses  he,  '  Wilkins,'  ses  he, 
'  that  boy's  lame  and  I'm  not,  and  I  want  to  talk 
to  him,  too.'  And  up  the  lad  has  to  get,  and  my 
lord  trudges  alongside  of  him  with  his  hands  in 
his  pockets,  and  his  cap  on  the  back  of  his  head, 
a -whistling  and  talking  as  easy  as  you  please! 
And  when  we  come  to  the  cottage,  an'  the  boy*s 
mother  come  out  all  in  a  taking  to  see  what's  up, 
he  whips  off  his  cap  an'  ses  he, '  I've  brought  your 
son  home,  ma'am,'  ses  he,  '  because  his  leg  hurt 
him,  and  I  don't  think  that  stick  is  enough  for 
him  to  lean  on ;  and  I'm  going  to  ask  my  grand- 
father to  have  a  pair  of  crutches  made  for  him.' 
An*  I'm  blessed  if  the  woman  wasn't  struck  all  of 
a  heap,  as  well  she  might  be !  I  thought  I  should 
V  hex-plodid,  myself!" 

When  the   Earl   heard  the   story   he   was  not 


UP  THE  LAD   HAS  TO   GET,   AND   MY   LORD  TRUDGES  ALONGSIL2  OF  HIM 
WITH  HIS  HANDS  IN  HIS  POCKETS." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  181 

angry,  as  Wilkins  had  been  half  afraid  that  he 
would  be ;  on  the  contrary,  he  laughed  outright, 
and  called  Fauntleroy  up  to  him,  and  made  him 
tell  all  about  the  matter  from  beginning  to  end, 
and  then  he  laughed  again.  And  actually,  a  few 
days  later,  the  Dorincourt  carriage  stopped  in  the 
green  lane  before  the  cottage  where  the  lame  boy 
lived,  and  Fauntleroy  jumped  out  and  walked  up 
to  the  door,  carrying  a  pair  of  strong,  light,  new 
crutches  shouldered  like  a  gun,  and  presented 
them  to  Mrs.  Hartle  (the  lame  boy's  name  was 
Hartle)  with  these  words :  "  My  grandfather's 
compliments,  and  if  you  please,  these  are  for  your 
boy,  and  we  hope  he  will  get  better." 

"  I  said  your  compliments,"  he  explained  to  the 
Earl  when  he  returned  to  the  carriage.  "You 
didn't  tell  me  to,  but  I  thought  perhaps  you  for. 
got.  That  was  right,  wasn't  it  ?  " 

And  the  Earl  laughed  again,  and  did  not  say  it 
was  not.  In  fact,  the  two  were  becoming  more 
intimate  every  day,  and  every  day  Fauntleroy's 
faith  in  his  lordship's  benevolence  and  virtue  in- 
creased. He  had  no  doubt  whatever  that  his 
grandfather  was  the  most  amiable  and  generous 
of  elderly  gentlemen.  Certainly,  he  himself 
found  his  wishes  gratified  almost  before  they  were 
uttered;  and  such  gifts  and  pleasures  were  lav- 
ished upon  him,  that  he  was  sometimes  almost 
bewildered  by  his  own  possessions.  Apparently, 


1 82  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

he  was  to  have  everything  he  wanted,  and  to  do 
everything  he  wished  to  do.  And  though  this 
would  certainly  not  have  been  a  very  wise  plan 
to  pursue  with  all  small  boys,  his  young  lordship 
bore  it  amazingly  well.  Perhaps,  notwithstand- 
ing his  sweet  nature,  he  might  have  been  some- 
what spoiled  by  it,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  hours 
he  spent  with  his  mother  at  Court  Lodge.  That 
"  best  friend "  of  his  watched  over  him  over 
closely  and  tenderly.  The  two  had  many  long 
talks  together,  and  he  never  went  back  to  the 
castle  with  her  kisses  on  his  cheeks  without 
carrying  in  his  heart  some  simple,  pure  words 
worth  remembering. 

There  was  one  thing,  it  is  true,  which  puzzled 
the  little  fellow  very  much.  He  thought  over  the 
mystery  of  it  much  oftener  than  any  one  sup- 
posed; even  his  mother  did  not  know  how  often 
he  pondered  on  it ;  the  Earl  for  a  long  time  never 
suspected  that  he  did  so  at  all.  But,  being  quick 
to  observe,  the  little  boy  could  not  help  won- 
dering why  it  was  that  his  mother  and  grand- 
father never  seemed  to  meet.  He  had  noticed 
that  they  never  did  meet.  When  the  Dorincourt 
carriage  stopped  at  Court  Lodge,  the  Earl  never 
alighted,  and  on  the  rare  occasions  of  his  lord- 
ship's going  to  church,  Fauntleroy  was  always 
left  to  speak  to  his  mother  in  the  porch  alone,  or 
perhaps  to  go  home  with  her.  And  yet,  everjr 


Little  Lord  faunfleroy  183 

day,  fruit  and  flowers  were  sent  to  Court  Lodge 
from  the  hot-houses  at  the  castle.  But  the  one 
virtuous  action  of  the  Earl's  which  had  set  him 
upon  the  pinnacle  of  perfection  in  Cedric's  eyes, 
was  what  he  had  done  soon  after  that  first  Sunday 
when  Mrs.  Errol  had  walked  home  from  church 
unattended.  About  a  week  later,  when  Cedric 
was  going  one  day  to  visit  his  mother,  he  found 
at  the  door,  instead  of  the  large  carriage  and 
prancing  pair,  a  pretty  little  brougham  and  a 
handsome  bay  horse. 

x^  That  is  a  present  from  you  to  your  mother," 
the  Earl  said  abruptly.  "  She  cannot  go  walking 
about  the  country.  She  needs  a  carriage.  The 
man  who  drives  will  take  charge  of  it.  It  is  a 
present  from you"**~ 

Fauntleroy's  delight  could  but  feebly  express 
itself.  He  could  scarcely  contain  himself  until  he 
reached  the  lodge.  His  mother  was  gathering 
roses  in  the  garden.  He  flung  himself  out  of  the 
little  brougham  and  flew  to  her. 

"  Dearest ! "  he  cried,  "  could  you  believe  it  ? 
This  is  yours  !  He  says  it  is  a  present  from  me. 
It  is  your  own  carriage  to  drive  everywhere  in  !  " 

He  was  so  happy  that  she  did  not  know  what  to 
say.  She  could  not  have  borne  to  spoil  his  pleas- 
ure by  refusing  to  accept  the  gift  even  though  it 
came  from  the  man  who  chose  to  consider  himself 
her  enemy.  She  was  obliged  to  step  into  the  car- 


184  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

riage,  roses  and  all,  and  let  herself  be  taken  to 
drive,  while  Fauntleroy  told  her  stories  of  his 
grandfather's  goodness  and  amiability.  They 
were  such  innocent  stories  that  sometimes  she 
could  not  help  laughing  a  little,  and  then  she 
would  draw  her  little  boy  closer  to  her  side  and 
kiss  him,  feeling  glad  that  he  could  see  only  good 
in  the  old  man,  who  had  so  few  friends. 

The  very  next  day  after  that,  Fauntleroy  wrote 
to  Mr.  Hobbs.  He  wrote  quite  a  long  letter,  and 
after  the  first  copy  was  written,  he  brought  it  to 
his  grandfather  to  be  inspected. 

"  Because,"  he  said,  "  it's  so  uncertain  about  the 
spelling.  And  if  you'll  tell  me  the  mistakes,  I'll 
write  it  out  again." 

This  was  what  he  had  written  : 

"  My  dear  mr  hobbs  i  want  to  tell  you  about  my  granfarther 
he  is  the  best  earl  you  ever  new  it  is  a  mistake  about  earls  being 
tirents  he  is  not  a  tirent  at  all  i  wish  you  new  him  you  would  be 
good  friends  i  am  sure  you  would  he  has  the  gout  in  his  foot  and 
is  a  grate  sufrer  but  he  is  so  pashent  i  love  him  more  every  day 
becaus  no  one  could  help  loving  an  earl  like  that  who  is  kind  to 
every  one  in  this  world  i  wish  you  could  talk  to  him  he  knows  every- 
thing in  the  world  you  can  ask  him  any  question  but  he  has 
never  plaid  base  ball  he  has  given  me  a  pony  and  a  cart  and  my 
mamma  a  bewtifle  cariage  and  I  have  three  rooms  and  toys  of 
all  kinds  it  would  serprise  you  you  would  like  the  castle  and  the 
park  it  is  such  a  large  castle  you  could  lose  yourself  wilkins  tells 
me  wilkins  is  my  groom  he  says  there  is  a  dungon  under  the 
castle  it  is  so  pretty  everything  in  the  park  would  serprise  you 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  185 

there  are  such  big  trees  and  there  are  deers  and  rabbits  and 
games  flying  about  in  the  cover  my  gran  farther  is  very  rich  but 
he  is  not  proud  and  orty  as  you  thought  earls  always  were  i  like 
to  be  with  him  the  people  are  so  polite  and  kind  they  take  of  their 
hats  to  you  and  the  women  make  curtsies  and  sometimes  say  god 
bless  you  i  can  ride  now  but  at  first  it  shook  me  when  i  troted 
my  granfarther  let  a  poor  man  stay  on  his  farm  when  he  could 
not  pay  his  rent  and  mrs  mellon  went  to  take  wine  and  things  to 
his  sick  children  i  should  like  to  see  you  and  i  wish  dearest  could 
live  at  the  castle  but  i  am  very  happy  when  i  dont  miss  her  too 
much  and  i  love  my  granfarther  every  one  does  plees  write  soon 
"  your  afechshnet  old  frend 

"  Cedric  Errol 

"  p  s  no  one  is  in  the  dungon  my  granfarther  never  had  any 
one  langwishin  in  there 

"  p  s  he  is  such  a  good  earl  he  reminds  me  of  you  he  is  a 
unerversle  favrit." 

"  Do  you  miss  your  mother  very  much  ?  "  asked 
the  Earl  when  he  had  finished  reading  this. 

"  Yes,"  said  Fauntleroy,  "  I  miss  her  all  the 
time." 

He  went  and  stood  before  the  Earl  and  put  his 
hand  on  his  knee,  looking  up  at  him. 

"  You  don't  miss  her,  do  you  ?  "  he  said. 

"  I  don't  know  her,"  answered  his  lordship 
rather  crustily. 

"I  know  that,"  said  Fauntleroy,  "and  that's 
what  makes  me  wonder.  She  told  me  not  to  ask 
you  any  questions,  and — and  I  won't,  but  some- 
tiroes  I  can't  help  thinking,  you  know,  and  it 


1 86  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

makes  me  all  puzzled.  But  I'm  not  going  to  ask 
any  questions.  And  when  I  miss  her  very  much, 
I  go  and  look  out  of  my  window  to  where  I  see  her 
light  shine  for  me  every  night  through  an  open 
place  in  the  trees.  It  is  a  long  way  off,  but  she 
puts  it  in  her  window  as  soon  as  it  is  dark,  and 
I  can  see  it  twinkle  far  away,  and  I  know  what 
it  says." 

"  What  does  it  say?"  asked  my  lord. 

"  It  says,  *  Good-night,  God  keep  you  all  the 
night ! ' — just  what  she  used  to  say  when  we  were 
together.  Every  night  she  used  to  say  that  to 
me,  and  every  morning  she  said,  '  God  bless  you 
all  the  day  ! '  So  you  see  I  am  quite  safe  all  the 
time " 

"  Quite,  I  have  no  doubt,"  said  his  lordship 
dryly.  And  he  drew  down  his  beetling  eyebrows 
and  looked  at  the  little  boy  so  fixedly  and  so  long 
that  Fauntleroy  wondered  what  he  could  be 
thinking  of. 


IX 

THE  fact  was,  his  lordship  the  Earl  of  Dorin- 
court  thought  in  those  days,  of  many  things  of 
which  he  had  never  thought  before,  and  all  his 
thoughts  were  in  one  way  or  another  connected 
with  his  grandson.  His  pride  was  the  strongest 
part  of  his  nature,  and  the  boy  gratified  it  at 
every  point.  Through  this  pride  he  began  to 
find  a  new  interest  in  life.  He  began  to  take 
pleasure  in  showing  his  heir  to  the  world.  The 
world  had  known  of  his  disappointment  in  his 
sons ;  so  there  was  an  agreeable  touch  of  triumph 
in  exhibiting  this  new  Lord  Fauntleroy,  who  could 
disappoint  no  one.  He  wished  the  child  to  ap- 
preciate his  own  power  and  to  understand  the 
splendor  of  his  position;  he  wished  that  others 
should  realize  it  too.  He  made  plans  for  his 
future.  Sometimes  in  secret  he  actually  found 
himself  wishing  that  his  own  past  life  had  been  a 
better  one,  and  that  there  had  been  less  in  it  that 
this  pure,  childish  heart  would  shrink  from. if  it 
knew  the  truth.  It  was  not  agreeable  to  think 
how  the  beautiful,  innocent  face  would  look  if  its 
owner  should  be  made  by  any  chance  to  under- 


1 88  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

stand  that  his  grandfather  had  been  called  for 
many  a  year  "  the  wicked  Earl  of  Dorincourt." 
The  thought  even  made  him  feel  a  trifle  nervous. 
He  did  not  wish  the  boy  to  find  it  out.  Some- 
times in  this  new  interest  he  forgot  his  gout,  and 
after  a  while  his  doctor  was  surprised  to  find  his 
noble  patient's  health  growing  better  than  he  had 
expected  it  ever  would  be  again.  Perhaps  the 
Earl  grew  better  because  the  time  did  not  pass  so 
slowly  for  him,  and  he  had  something  to  think  of 
besides  his  pains  and  infirmities. 

One  fine  morning,  people  were  amazed  to  see 
little  Lord  Fauntleroy  riding  his  pony  with  an- 
other companion  than  Wilkins.  This  new  com- 
panion rode  a  tall,  powerful  gray  horse,  and  was 
no  other  than  the  Earl  himself.  It  was,  in  fact, 
Fauntleroy  who  had  suggested  this  plan.  As  he 
had  been  on  the  point  of  mounting  his  pony,  he 
had  said  rather  wistfully  to  his  grandfather : 

"  I  wish  you  were  going  with  me.  When  I  go 
away  I  feel  lonely  because  you  are  left  all  by 
yourself  in  such  a  big  castle.  I  wish  you  could 
ride  too." 

And  the  greatest  excitement  had  been  aroused 
in  the  stables  a  few  minutes  later  by  the  arrival 
of  an  order  that  Selim  was  to  be  saddled  for  the 
Earl.  After  that,  Selim  was  saddled  almost  every 
day ;  and  the  people  became  accustomed  to  the 
sight  of  the  tall  gray  horse  carrying  the  tall  gray 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  189 

old  man,  with  his  handsome,  fierce,  eagle  face,  by 
the  side  of  the  brown  pony  which  bore  little  Lord 
Fauntleroy.  And  in  their  rides  together  through 
the  green  lanes  and  pretty  country  roads,  the  two 
riders  became  more  intimate  than  ever.  And 
gradually  the  old  man  heard  a  great  deal  about 
"  Dearest "  and  her  life.  As  Fauntleroy  trotted 
by  the  big  horse  he  chatted  gayly.  There  could 
not  well  have  been  a  brighter  little  comrade,  his 
nature  was  so  happy.  It  was  he  who  talked  the 
most.  The  Earl  often  was  silent,  listening  and 
watching  the  joyous,  glowing  face.  Sometimes 
he  would  tell  his  young  companion  to  set  the 
pony  off  at  a  gallop,  and  when  the  little  fellow 
dashed  off,  sitting  so  straight  and  fearless,  he 
would  watch  him  with  a  gleam  of  pride  and 
pleasure  in  his  eyes ;  and  when,  after  such  a  dash, 
Fauntleroy  came  back  waving  his  cap  with  a 
laughing  shout,  he  always  felt  that  he  and  his 
grandfather  were  very  good  friends  indeed. 

One  thing  that  the  Earl  discovered  was  that  his 
son's  wife  did  not  lead  an  idle  life.  It  was  not 
long  before  he  learned  that  the  poor  people  knew 
her  very  well  indeed.  When  there  was  sickness 
or  sorrow  or  poverty  in  any  house,  the  little 
brougham  often  stood  before  the  door. 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  Fauntleroy  once,  "  they 
all  say, '  God  bless  you  ! '  when  they  see  her,  and 
the  children  are  glad.  There  are  some  who  go 


190  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

to  her  house  to  be  taught  to  sew.  She  says  she 
feels  so  rich  now  that  she  wants  to  help  the  poor 
ones." 

It  had  not  displeased  the  Earl  to  find  that  the 
mother  of  his  heir  had  a  beautiful  young  face  and 
looked  as  much  like  a  lady  as  if  she  had  been  a 
duchess ;  and  in  one  way  it  did  not  displease  him* 
to  know  that  she  was  popular  and  beloved  by  the 
poor.  And  yet  he  was  often  conscious  of  a  hard, 
jealous  pang  when  he  saw  how  she  filled  her 
child's  heart  and  how  the  boy  clung  to  her  as  his 
best  beloved.  The  old  man  would  have  desired 
to  stand  first  himself  and  have  no  rival. 

That  same  morning  he  drew  up  his  horse  on  an 
elevated  point  of  the  moor  over  which  they  rode, 
and  made  a  gesture  with  his  whip,  over  the  broad, 
beautiful  landscape  spread  before  them. 

"  Do  you  know  that  all  that  land  belongs  to 
me  ?  "  he  said  to  Fauntleroy. 

"Does  it?"  answered  Fauntleroy.  "How  much 
it  is  to  belong  to  one  person,  and  how  beautiful ! " 

"  Do  you  know  that  some  day  it  will  all  belong 
to  you — that  and  a  great  deal  more  ?  " 

"To  me!"  exclaimed  Fauntleroy  in  rather  an 
awe-stricken  voice.  "  When  ?  " 

"  When  I  am  dead,"  his  grandfather  answered. 

"  Then  I  don't  want  it,"  said  Fauntleroy ;  "  I 
want  you  to  live  always." 

"That's  kind,"  answered  the  Earl  in  his  dry 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  191 

way ;  "  nevertheless,  some  day  it  will  all  be  yours 
—  some  day  you  will  be  the  Earl  of  Dorin- 
court." 

Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  sat  very  still  in  his  sad- 
die  for  a  few  moments.  He  looked  over  the 
broad  moors,  the  green  farms,  the  beautiful 
copses,  the  cottages  in  the  lanes,  the  pretty  vil- 
lage, and  over  the  trees  to  where  the  turrets  of 
the  great  castle  rose,  gray  and  stately.  Then  he 
gave  a  queer  little  sigh. 

"  What  are  you  thinking  of?"  asked  the  EarL 
"  I  am  thinking,"  replied   Fauntleroy, "  what  a 
little  boy  I  am !  and  of  what  Dearest  said  to 


me." 


"  What  was  it?"  inquired  the  Earl. 

"  She  said  that  perhaps  it  was  not  so  easy  to  be 
very  rich  ;  that  if  any  one  had  so  many  things  al- 
ways, one  might  sometimes  forget  that  every  one 
else  was  not  so  fortunate,  and  that  one  who  is 
rich  should  always  be  careful  and  try  to  remem- 
ber. I  was  talking  to  her  about  how  good  you 
were,  and  she  said  that  was  such  a  good  thing, 
because  an  earl  had  so  much  power,  and  if  he 
cared  only  about  his  own  pleasure  and  never 
thought  about  the  people  who  lived  on  his  lands, 
they  might  have  trouble  that  he  could  help — and 
there  were  so  many  people,  and  it  would  be  such 
a  hard  thing.  And  I  was  just  looking  at  all  those 
houses,  and  thinking  how  I  should  have  to  find 


192  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

out  about  the  people,  when  I  was  an  earl.  How 
did  you  find  out  about  them  ?  " 

As  his  lordship's  knowledge  of  his  tenantry 
consisted  in  finding  out  which  of  them  paid  their 
rent  promptly,  and  in  turning  out  those  who  did 
not,  this  was  rather  a  hard  question.  "  Newick 
finds  out  for  me,"  he  said,  and  he  pulled  his  great 
gray  mustache,  and  looked  at  his  small  questioner 
rather  uneasily.  "  We  will  go  home  now,"  he 
added ;  "  and  when  you  are  an  earl,  see  to  it  that 
you  are  a  better  earl  than  I  have  been ! " 

He  was  very  silent  as  they  rode  home.  He  felt 
it  to  be  almost  incredible  that  he,  who  had  never 
really  loved  any  one  in  his  life,  should  find  him- 
self growing  so  fond  of  this  little  fellow, — as  with- 
out doubt  he  was.  At  first  he  had  only  been 
pleased  and  proud  of  Cedric's  beauty  and  bra- 
very, but  there  was  something  more  than  pride 
in  his  feeling  now.  He  laughed  a  grim,  dry 
laugh  all  to  himself  sometimes,  when  he  thought 
how  he  liked  to  have  the  boy  near  him,  how  he 
liked  to  hear  his  voice,  and  how  in  secret  he 
really  wished  to  be  liked  and  thought  well  of  by 
his  small  grandson. 

"  I'm  an  old  fellow  in  my  dotage,  and  I  have 
nothing  else  to  think  of,"  he  would  say  to  him- 
self ;  and  yet  he  knew  it  was  not  that  altogether. 
And  if  he  had  allowed  himself  to  admit  the 
tr^th,  he  would  perhaps  have  found  himself 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  193 

obliged  to  own  that  the  very  things  which  at- 
tracted him,  in  spite  of  himself,  were  the  qualities 
he  had  never  possessed — the  frank,  true,  kindly 
nature,  the  affectionate  trustfulness  which  could 
never  think  evil. 

It  was  only  about  a  week  after  that  ride  when, 
after  a  visit  to  his  mother,  Fauntleroy  came  into 
the  library  with  a  troubled,  thoughtful  face.  He 
sat  down  in  that  high-backed  chair  in  which  he 
had  sat  on  the  evening  of  his  arrival,  and  for  a 
while  he  looked  at  the  embers  on  the  hearth.  The 
Earl  watched  him  in  silence,  wondering  what  was 
coming.  It  was  evident  that  Cedric  had  some- 
thing on  his  mind.  At  last  he  looked  up.  "  Does 
Newick  know  all  about  the  people  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  It  is  his  business  to  know  about  them,"  said 
his  lordship.  "  Been  neglecting  it — has  he  ?  " 

Contradictory  as  it  may  seem,  there  was  noth- 
ing which  entertained  and  edified  him  more  than 
the  little  fellow's  interest  in  his  tenantry.  He  had 
never  taken  any  interest  in  them  himself,  but  it 
pleased  him  well  enough  that,  with  all  his  childish 
habits  of  thought  and  in  the  midst  of  all  his  childish 
amusements  and  high  spirits,  there  should  be  such 
a  quaint  seriousness  working  in  the  curly  head. 

"  There  is  a  place,"  said  Fauntleroy,  looking  up 

at  him   with  wide-open,  horror-stricken  eye  — 

"  Dearest  has  seen  it ;  it  is  at  the  other  end  of  the 

village.    Tne  houses  are  close  together,  and  al- 

13 


194  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

most  falling  down ;  you  can  scarcely  breathe ; 
and  the  people  are  so  poor,  and  everything  is 
dreadful !  Often  they  have  fever,  and  the  chil- 
dren die ;  and  it  makes  them  wicked  to  live  like 
that,  and  be  so  poor  and  miserable !  It  is  worse 
than  Michael  and  Bridget !  The  rain  comes  in 
at  the  roof !  Dearest  went  to  see  a  poor  woman 
who  lived  there.  She  would  not  let  me  come  near 
her  until  she  had  changed  all  her  things.  The  tears 
ran  down  her  cheeks  when  she  told  me  about  it ! " 

The  tears  had  come  into  his  own  eyes,  but  he 
smiled  through  them. 

"  I  told  her  you  didn't  know,  and  I  would  tell 
you,"  he  said.  He  jumped  down  and  came  and 
leaned  against  the  Earl's  chair.  "  You  can  make 
it  all  right,"  he  said,  "just  as  you  made  it  all 
right  for  Higgins.  You  always  make  it  all  right 
for  everybody.  I  told  her  you  would,  and  that 
Newick  must  have  forgotten  to  tell  you." 

The  Earl  looked  down  at  the  hand  on  his  knee. 
Newick  had  not  forgotten  to  tell  him ;  in  fact, 
Newick  had  spoken  to  him  more  than  once  of 
the  desperate  condition  of  the  end  of  the  village 
known  as  Earl's  Court.  He  knew  all  about 
the  tumble-down,  miserable  cottages,  and  the 
bad  drainage,  and  the  damp  walls  and  broken 
windows  and  leaking  roofs,  and  all  about  the  pov- 
erty, the  fever,  and  the  misery.  Mr.  Mordaunt 
had  painted  it  all  to  him  in  the  strongest  words 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  195 

ne  could  use,  and  his  lordship  had  used  violent 
language  in  response;  and,  when  his  gout  had 
been  at  the  worst,  he  said  that  the  sooner  the  peo- 
ple of  Earl's  Court  died  and  were  buried  by  the 
parish  the  better  it  would  be, — and  there  was  an 
end  of  the  matter.  And  yet,  as  he  looked  at  the 
small  hand  on  his  knee,  and  from  the  small  hand  to 
the  honest,  earnest,  frank-eyed  face,  he  was  actually 
a  little  ashamed  both  of  Earl's  Court  and  himself. 

"  What !  "  he  said  ;  "  you  want  to  make  a  builder 
of  model  cottages  of  me,  do  you  ?  "  And  he  posi- 
tively put  his  own  hand  upon  the  childish  one 
and  stroked  it. 

"  Those  must  be  pulled  down,"  said  Fauntleroy, 
with  great  eagerness.  "  Dearest  says  so.  Let  us 
— let  us  go  and  have  them  pulled  down  to-mor- 
row. The  people  will  be  so  glad  when  they  see 
you  !  They'll  know  you  have  come  to  help  them !" 
And  his  eyes  shone  like  stars  in  his  glowing  face. 

The  Earl  rose  from  his  chair  and  put  his  hand 
on  the  child's  shoulder.  "  Let  us  go  out  and  take 
our  walk  on  the  terrace,"  he  said,  with  a  short 
laugh  ;  "  and  we  can  talk  it  over." 

And  though  he  laughed  two  or  three  times 
again,  as  they  walked  to  and  fro  on  the  broad 
stone  terrace,  where  they  walked  together  almost 
every  fine  evening,  he  seemed  to  be  thinking  of 
something  which  did  not  displease  him,  and  still 
he  kept  his  hand  on  his  small  companion's  shoulder. 


THE  truth  was  that  Mrs.  Errol  had  found  a 
great  many  sad  things  in  the  course  of  her  work 
among  the  poor  of  the  little  village  that  appeared 
so  picturesque  when  it  was  seen  from  the  moor- 
sides.  Everything  was  not  as  picturesque,  when 
seen  near  by,  as  it  looked  from  a  distance.  She 
had  found  idleness  and  poverty  and  ignoranjo 
where  there  should  have  been  comfort  and  in- 
dustry. And  she  had  discovered,  after  a  while, 
that  Erleboro  was  considered  to  be  the  worst 
village  in  that  part  of  the  country.  Mr.  Mor- 
daunt  had  told  her  a  great  many  of  his  difficulties 
and  discouragements,  and  she  had  found  out  a 
great  deal  by  herself.  The  agents  who  had 
managed  the  property  had  always  been  chosen  to 
please  the  Earl,  and  had  cared  nothing  for  the 
degradation  and  wretchedness  of  the  poor  ten- 
ants. Many  things,  therefore,  had  been  neg- 
lected which  should  have  been  attended  to,  and 
matters  had  gone  from  bad  to  worse. 

As  to  Earl's  Court,  it  was  a  disgrace,  with  its 
dilapidated  houses  and  miserable,  careless,  sickly 
people.  When  first  Mrs.  Errol  went  to  the  place, 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  197 

it  made  her  shudder.  Such  ugliness  and  sloven- 
liness and  want  seemed  worse  in  a  country  place 
than  in  a  city.  It  seemed  as  if  there  it  might  be 
helped.  And  as  she  looked  at  the  squalid,  un- 
cared-for children  growing  up  in  the  midst  of  vice 
and  brutal  indifference,  she  thought  of  her  own 
little  boy  spending  his  days  in  the  great,  splendid 
castle,  guarded  and  served  like  a  young  prince, 
having  no  wish  ungratified,  and  knowing  nothing 
but  luxury  and  ease  and  beauty.  And  a  bold 
thought  came  in  her  wise  little  mother- heart. 
Gradually  she  had  begun  to  see,  as  had  others, 
that  it  had  been  her  boy's  good  fortune  to  please 
the  Earl  very  much,  and  that  he  would  scarcely 
be  likely  to  be  denied  anything  for  which  he 
expressed  a  desire. 

"  The  Earl  would  give  him  anything,"  she  said 
to  Mr.  Mordaunt.  "  He  would  indulge  his  every 
whim.  Why  should  not  that  indulgence  be  used 
for  the  good  of  others  ?  It  is  for  me  to  see  that 
this  shall  come  to  pass." 

She  knew  she  could  trust  the  kind,  childish 
heart;  so  she  told  the  little  fellow  the  story  of 
Earl's  Court,  feeling  sure  that  he  would  speak  of 
it  to  his  grandfather,  and  hoping  that  some  good 
results  would  follow. 

And  strange  as  it  appeared  to  every  one,  good 
results  did  follow.  The  fact  was  that  the  strong- 
est power  to  influence  the  Earl  was  his  grand- 


198  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

son's  perfect  confidence  in  him  —  the  fact  that 
Cedric  always  believed  that  his  grandfather  was 
going  to  do  what  was  right  and  generous.  He 
could  not  quite  make  up  his  mind  to  let  him  dis- 
cover that  he  had  no  inclination  to  be  generous 
at  all,  and  that  he  wanted  his  own  way  on  all 
occasions,  whether  it  was  right  or  wrong.  It  was 
such  a  novelty  to  be  regarded  with  admiration  as 
a  benefactor  of  the  entire  human  race,  and  the 
soul  of  nobility,  that  he  did  not  enjoy  the  idea  of 
looking  into  the  affectionate  brown  eyes,  and  say- 
ing :  "  I  am  a  violent,  selfish  old  rascal ;  I  never 
did  a  generous  thing  in  my  life,  and  I  don't  care 
about  Earl's  Court  or  the  poor  people  " — or  some- 
thing which  would  amount  to  the  same  thing. 
He  actually  had  learned  to  be  fond  enough  of 
that  small  boy  with  the  mop  of  yellow  love-locks, 
to  feel  that  he  himself  would  prefer  to  be  guilty 
of  an  amiable  action  now  and  then.  And  so — 
though  he  laughed  at  himself — after  some  reflec- 
tion, he  sent  for  Newick,  and  had  quite  a  long  in- 
terview with  him  on  the  subject  of  the  court,  and 
it  was  decided  that  the  wretched  hovels  should 
be  pulled  down  and  new  houses  should  be  built. 

"  It  is  Lord  Fauntleroy  who  insists  on  it,"  he 
said  dryly ;  "  he  thinks  it  will  improve  the  prop- 
erty. You  can  tell  the  tenants  that  it's  his 
idea."  And  he  looked  down  at  his  small  lord- 
ship, who  was  lying  on  the  hearth-rug  playing 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  199 

with  Dougal.  The  great  dog  was  the  lad's  con- 
stant companion,  and  followed  him  about  every, 
where,  stalking  solemnly  after  him  when  he 
walked,  and  trotting  majestically  behind  when  he 
rode  or  drove. 

Of  course,  both  the  country  people  and  the 
town  people  heard  of  the  proposed  improvement. 
At  first,  many  of  them  would  not  believe  it ;  but 
when  a  small  army  of  workmen  arrived  and  com- 
menced pulling  down  the  crazy,  squalid  cottages, 
people  began  to  understand  that  little  Lord 
Fauntleroy  had  done  them  a  good  turn  again, 
and  that  through  his  innocent  interference  the 
scandal  of  Earl's  Court  had  at  last  been  removed. 
If  he  had  only  known  how  they  talked  about  him 
and  praised  him  everywhere,  and  prophesied  great 
things  for  him  when  he  grew  up,  how  astonished 
he  would  have  been  !  But  he  never  suspected  it. 
He  lived  his  simple,  happy,  child  life, — frolicking 
about  in  the  park;  chasing  the  rabbits  to  their 
burrows ;  lying  under  the  trees  on  the  grass,  or 
on  the  rug  in  the  library,  reading  wonderful 
books  and  talking  to  the  Earl  about  them,  and 
then  telling  the  stories  again  to  his  mother ;  writ- 
ing long  letters  to  Dick  and  Mr.  Hobbs,  who 
responded  in  characteristic  fashion  ;  riding  out  at 
his  grandfather's  side,  or  with  Wilkins  as  escort. 
As  they  rode  through  the  market  town,  he  used 
to  see  the  people  turn  and  look,  and  he  noticed 


2OO  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

that  as  they  lifted  their  hats  their  faces  often 
brightened  very  much  ;  but  he  thought  it  was  ah 
because  his  grandfather  was  with  him. 

"  They  are  so  fond  of  you,"  he  once  said,  look- 
ing  up  at  his  lordship  with  a  bright  smile.  "  Do 
you  see  how  glad  they  are  when  they  see  you  ?  I 
hope  they  will  some  day  be  as  fond  of  me.  It 
must  be  nice  to  have  everybody  like  you."  And 
he  felt  quite  proud  to  be  the  grandson  of  so 
greatly  admired  and  beloved  an  individual. 

When  the  cottages  were  being  built,  the  lad  and 
his  grandfather  used  to  ride  over  to  Earl's  Court 
together  to  look  at  them,  and  Fauntleroy  was  full 
of  interest.  He  would  dismount  from  his  pony 
and  go  and  make  acquaintance  with  the  work- 
men, asking  them  questions  about  building  and 
bricklaying,  and  telling  them  things  about  Amer- 
ica. After  two  or  three  such  conversations,  he 
was  able  to  enlighten  the  Earl  on  the  subject  of 
brickmaking,  as  they  rode  home. 

"  I  always  like  to  know  about  things  like 
those,"  he  said,  "  because  you  never  know  what 
you  are  coming  to." 

When  he  left  them,  the  workmen  used  to  talk 
him  over  among  themselves,  and  laugh  at  his  odd, 
innocent  speeches;  but  they  liked  him,  and  liked  to 
see  him  stand  among  them,  talking  away,  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets,  his  hat  pushed  back  on  his 
curls,  and  his  small  face  full  of  eagerness.  "  He's 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 


201 


a  rare  un,"  they  used  to  say.  "  An*  a  noice  little 
outspoken  chap,  too.  Not  much  o'  th*  bad  stock 
in  him."  And  they  would  go  home  and  tell  their 
wives  about  him,  and  the  women  would  tell  each 
other,  and  so  it  came 
about  that  almost 
every  one  talked  of, 
or  knew  some  story 
of,  little  Lord  Faunt- 
leroy ;  and  gradual- 
ly almost  every  one 
knew  that  the 
"  wicked  Earl "  had 
found  something  he 
cared  for  at  last — 
something  which 
had  touched  and 
even  warmed  his 
hard,  bitter  old 
heart. 

But  no  one  knew 
quite  how  much  it 
had  been  warmed, 

and  how  day  by  day  the  old  man  found  himself 
caring  more  and  more  for  the  child,  who  was 
the  only  creature  that  had  ever  trusted  him. 
He  found  himself  looking  forward  to  the  time 
when  Cedric  would  be  a  young  man,  strong  and 
beautiful,  with  life  all  before  him,  but  having  still 


THE  WORKMEN  LIKED  TO  SEE  HIM 
STAND  AMONG  THEM,  TALKING 
AWAY,  WITH  HIS  HANDS  IN  HIS 
POCKETS. 


202  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

that  kind  heart  and  the  power  to  make  friends 
everywhere ;  and  the  Earl  wondered  what  the 
lad  would  do,  and  how  he  would  use  his  gifts. 
Often  as  he  watched  the  little  fellow  lying  upon 
the  hearth,  conning  some  big  book,  the  light 
shining  on  the  bright  young  head,  his  old  eyes 
would  gleam  and  his  cheek  would  flush. 

"  The  boy  can  do  anything,"  he  would  say  to 
himself,  "  anything !  " 

He  never  spoke  to  any  one  else  of  his  feeling 
for  Cedric;  when  he  spoke  of  him  to  others  it 
was  always  with  the  same  grim  smile.  But 
Fauntleroy  soon  knew  that  his  grandfather  loved 
him  and  always  liked  him  to  be  near  —  near  to 
his  chair  if  they  'were  in  the  library,  opposite 
to  him  at  table,  or  by  his  side  when  he  rode  or 
drove  or  took  his  evening  walk  on  the  broad 
terrace. 

"  Do  you  remember,"  Cedric  said  once,  looking 
up  from  his  book  as  he  lay  on  the  rug,  "  do  you 
remember  what  I  said  to  you  that  first  night  about 
our  being  good  companions  ?  I  don't  think  any 
people  could  be  better  companions  than  we  are, 
do  you  ?  " 

"  We  are  pretty  good  companions,  I  should 
say,"  replied  his  lordship.  "  Come  here." 

Fauntleroy  scrambled  up  and  went  to  him. 

"  Is  there  anything  you  want,"  the  Earl  asked ; 
"  anything  you  have  not  ?  H 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  203 

The  little  fellow's  brown  eyes  fixed  themselves 
on  his  grandfather  with  a  rather  wistful  look. 

"  Only  one  thing,"  he  answered. 

"  What  is  that  ?  "  inquired  the  Earl 

Fauntleroy  was  silent  a  second.  He  had  not 
thought  matters  over  to  himself  so  long  for  noth- 
ing. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  my  lord  repeated. 

Fauntleroy  answered. 

"  It  is  Dearest,"  he  said. 

The  old  Earl  winced  a  little. 

"  But  you  see  her  almost  every  day,"  he  said. 
"  Is  not  that  enough  ?  " 

"  I  used  to  see  her  all  the  time,"  said  Fauntle- 
roy. "  She  used  to  kiss  me  when  I  went  to  sleep 
at  night,  and  in  the  morning  she  was  always 
there,  and  we  could  tell  each  other  things  with- 
out waiting." 

The  old  eyes  and  the  young  ones  looked  into 
each  other  through  a  moment  of  silence.  Then 
the  Earl  knitted  his  brows. 

"  Do  you  never  forget  about  your  mother  ?  "  he 
said. 

"No,"  answered  Fauntleroy,  "  never ;  and  she 
never  forgets  about  me.  I  shouldn't  forget  about 
you,  you  know,  if  I  didn't  live  with  you.  I  should 
think  about  you  all  the  more." 

"  Upon  my  word,"  said  the  Earl,  after  looking 
at  him  a  moment  longer,  "  I  believe  you  would  I " 


204  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

The  jealous  pang  that  came  when  the  boy 
spoke  so  of  his  mother  seemed  even  stronger 
than  it  had  been  before  ;  it  was  stronger  because 
of  this  old  man's  increasing  affection  for  the  boy. 

But  it  was  not  long  before  he  had  other  pangs, 
so  much  harder  to  face  that  he  almost  forgot,  for 
the  time,  he  had  ever  hated  his  son's  wife  at  all. 
And  in  a  strange  and  startling  way  it  happened. 
One  evening,  just  before  the  Earl's  Court  cot- 
tages were  completed,  there  was  a  grand  dinner 
party  at  Dorincourt.  There  had  not  been  such  a 
party  at  the  castle  for  a  long  time.  A  few  days 
before  it  took  place,  Sir  Harry  Lorridaile  and 
Lady  Lorridaile,  who  was  the  Earl's  only  sister, 
actually  came  for  a  visit — a  thing  which  caused 
the  greatest  excitement  in  the  village  and  set 
Mrs.  Dibble's  shop-bell  tinkling  madly  again,  be- 
cause it  was  well  known  that  Lady  Lorridaile 
had  only  been  to  Dorincourt  once  since  her  mar- 
riage, thirty-five  years  before.  She  was  a  hand- 
some old  lady  with  white  curls  and  dimpled, 
peachy  cheeks,  and  she  was  as  good  as  gold,  but 
she  had  never  approved  of  her  brother  any  more 
than  did  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  having  a 
strong  will  of  her  own  and  not  being  at  all  afraid 
to  speak  her  mind  frankly,  she  had,  after  several 
lively  quarrels  with  his  lordship,  seen  very  little 
of  him  since  her  young  days. 

She  had  heard  a  great  deal  of  him  that  was  not 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  205 

pleasant  through  the  years  in  which  they  had 
been  separated.  She  had  heard  about  his  neglect 
of  his  wife,  and  of  the  poor  lady's  death ;  and  of 
his  indifference  to  his  children ;  and  of  the  two 
weak,  vicious,  unprepossessing  elder  boys  who 
had  been  no  credit  to  him  or  any  one  else.  Those 
two  elder  sons,  Bevis  and  Maurice,  she  had  never 
seen  ;  but  once  there  had  come  to  Lorridaile  Park 
a  tall,  stalwart,  beautiful  young  fellow  about 
eighteen  years  old,  who  had  told  her  that  he  was 
her  nephew  Cedric  Errol,  and  that  he  had  come 
to  see  her  because  he  was  passing  near  the  place 
and  wished  to  look  at  his  Aunt  Constantia  of 
whom  he  had  heard  his  mother  speak.  Lady 
Lorridaile's  kind  heart  had  warmed  through  and 
through  at  the  sight  of  the  young  man,  and  she 
had  made  him  stay  with  her  a  week,  and  petted 
him,  and  made  much  of  him  and  admired  him 
immensely.  He  was  so  sweet-tempered,  light- 
hearted,  spirited  a  lad,  that  when  he  went  away, 
she  had  hoped  to  see  him  often  again ;  but  she 
never  did,  because  the  Earl  had  been  in  a  bad 
humor  when  he  went  back  to  Dorincourt,  and  had 
forbidden  him  ever  to  go  to  Lorridaile  Park  again. 
But  Lady  Lorridaile  had  always  remembered  him 
tenderly,  and  though  she  feared  he  had  made  a 
rash  marriage  in  America,  she  had  been  very 
angry  when  she  heard  how  he  had  been  cast  off 
by  his  father,  and  that  no  one  really  knew  where 


206  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

or  how  he  lived.  At  last  there  came  a  rumor  of 
his  death,  and  then  Bevis  had  been  thrown  from 
his  horse  and  killed,  and  Maurice  had  died  in 
Rome  of  the  fever ;  and  soon  after  came  the  story 
of  the  American  child  who  was  to  be  found  and 
brought  home  as  Lord  Fauntleroy. 

"  Probably  to  be  ruined  as  the  others  were," 
she  said  to  her  husband,  "  unless  his  mother  is 
good  enough  and  has  a  will  of  her  own  to  help 
her  take  care  of  him." 

But  when  she  heard  that  Cedric's  mother  had 
been  parted  from  him  she  was  almost  too  indig- 
nant for  words. 

"  It  is  disgraceful,  Harry ! "  she  said.  "  Fancy 
a  child  of  that  age  being  taken  from  his  mother, 
and  made  the  companion  of  a  man  like  my 
brother !  He  will  either  be  brutal  to  the  boy 
or  indulge  him  until  he  is  a  little  monster.  If  I 
thought  it  would  do  any  good  to  write " 

"  It  wouldn't,  Constantia,"  said  Sir  Harry. 

"  I  know  it  wouldn't,"  she  answered.  "  I  know 
his  lordship  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt  too  well ; — 
but  it  is  outrageous." 

Not  only  the  poor  people  and  farmers  heard 
about  little  Lord  Fauntleroy ;  others  knew  him. 
He  was  talked  about  so  much  and  there  were  so 
many  stories  of  him — of  his  beauty,  his  sweet 
temper,  his  popularity,  and  his  growing  influence 
over  the  Earl,  his  grandfather — that  rumors  of 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  207 

him  reached  the  gentry  at  their  country  places 
and  he  was  heard  of  in  more  than  one  county  of 
England.  People  talked  about  him  at  the  dinner 
tables,  ladies  pitied  his  young  mother,  and  won- 
dered if  the  boy  were  as  handsome  as  he  was 
said  to  be,  and  men  who  knew  the  Earl  and 
his  habits  laughed  heartily  at  the  stories  of  the 
little  fellow's  belief  in  his  lordship's  amiability. 
Sir  Thomas  Asshe  of  Asshawe  Hall,  being  in 
Erleboro  one  day,  met  the  Earl  and  his  grandson 
riding  together,  and  stopped  to  shake  hands  with 
my  lord  and  congratulate  him  on  his  change  of 
looks  and  on  his  recovery  from  the  gout.  "  And, 
d'ye  know,"  he  said,  when  he  spoke  of  the  inci- 
dent afterward,  "  the  old  man  looked  as  proud  as 
a  turkey-cock ;  and  upon  my  word  I  don't  won- 
der, for  a  handsomer,  finer  lad  than  his  grandson 
I  never  saw !  As  straight  as  a  dart,  and  sat  his 
pony  like  a  young  trooper !  " 

And  so  by  degrees  Lady  Lorridaile,  too,  heard 
of  the  child  ;  she  heard  about  Higgins  and  the 
lame  boy,  and  the  cottages  at  Earl's  Court,  and  a 
score  of  other  things, — and  she  began  to  wish  to 
see  the  little  fellow.  And  just  as  she  was  won- 
dering how  it  might  be  brought  about,  to  her 
utter  astonishment,  she  received  a  letter  from  her 
brother  inviting  her  to  come  with  her  husband  to 
Dorincourt. 

"  It  seems  incredible  ! "  she  exclaimed.     "  I  have 


2o8  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

heard  it  said  that  the  child  has  worked  miracles, 
and  I  begin  to  believe  it.  They  say  my  brother 
adores  the  boy  and  can  scarcely  endure  to  have 
him  out  of  sight.  And  he  is  so  proud  of  him! 
Actually,  I  believe  he  wants  to  show  him  to  us." 
And  she  accepted  the  invitation  at  once. 

When  she  reached  Dorincourt  Castle  with  Sir 
Harry,  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  she  went 
to  her  room  at  once  before  seeing  her  brother. 
Having  dressed  for  dinner,  she  entered  the  draw- 
ing-room. The  Earl  was  there  standing  near  the 
fire  and  looking  very  tall  and  imposing ;  and  at 
his  side  stood  a  little  boy  in  black  velvet,  and  a 
large  Vandyke  collar  of  rich  lace — a  little  fellow 
whose  round  bright  face  was  so  handsome,  and 
who  turned  upon  her  such  beautiful,  candid  brown 
eyes,  that  she  almost  uttered  an  exclamation  of 
pleasure  and  surprise  at  the  sight. 

As  she  shook  hands  with  the  Earl,  she  called 
him  by  the  name  she  had  not  used  since  her  girl- 
hood. 

"  What,  Molyneux ! "  she  said,  "  is  this  the 
child?" 

"  Yes,  Constantia,"  answered  the  Earl,  "  this  is 
the  boy.  Fauntleroy,  this  is  your  grand-aunt, 
Lady  Lorridaile." 

"  How  do  you  do,  Grand- Aunt?"  said  Fauntle- 
roy. 

Lady  Lorridaile  put  her  hand  on  his  shoulders. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  209 

and  after  looking  down  into  his  upraised  face  a 
few  seconds,  kissed  him  warmly. 

"  I  am  your  Aunt  Constantia,"  she  said,  "  and  I 
loved  your  poor  papa,  and  you  are  very  like 
him." 

"  It  makes  me  glad  when  I  am  told  I  am  like 
him,"  answered  Fauntleroy,  "  because  it  seems  as 
if  every  one  liked  him, — just  like  Dearest,  eszack- 
ly , — Aunt  Constantia  "  (adding  the  two  words  af- 
ter a  second's  pause. 

Lady  Lorridaile  was  delighted.  She  bent  and 
kissed  him  again,  and  from  that  moment  they 
were  warm  friends. 

"  Well,  Molyneux,"  she  said  aside  to  the  Earl 
afterward,  "  it  could  not  possibly  be  better  than 
this!" 

"  I  think  not,"  answered  his  lordship  dryly. 
"  He  is  a  fine  little  fellow.  We  are  great  friends. 
He  believes  me  to  be  the  most  charming  and 
sweet-tempered  of  philanthropists.  I  will  confess 
to  you,  Constantia, — as  you  would  find  it  out  if  I 
did  not, — that  I  am  in  some  slight  danger  of  be- 
coming rather  an  old  fool  about  him." 

"  What  does  his  mother  think  of  you  ?  "  asked 
Lady  Lorridaile,  with  her  usual  straightforward- 
ness. 

"  I  have  not  asked  her,"  answered  the  Earl, 
slightly  scowling. 

"  Well,"  said  Lady  Lorridaile,  "  I  will  be  frank 


210  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

with  you  at  the  outset,  Molyneux,  and  tell  you  1 
don't  approve  of  your  course,  and  that  it  is  my 
intention  to  call  on  Mrs.  Errol  as  soon  as  possible ; 
so  if  you  wish  to  quarrel  with  me,  you  had  better 
mention  it  at  once.  What  I  hear  of  the  young 
creature  maices  me  quite  sure  that  her  child  owes  , 
her  everything.  We  were  told  even  at  Lorridaile 
Park  that  your  poorer  tenants  adore  her  already." 

"They  adore  him?  said  the  Earl,  nodding 
toward  Fauntleroy.  "  As  to  Mrs.  Errol,  you'll 
find  her  a  pretty  little  woman.  I'm  rather  in  debt 
to  her  for  giving  some  of  her  beauty  to  the  boy, 
and  you  can  go  to  see  her  if  you  like.  All  I  ask 
is  that  she  will  remain  at  Court  Lodge  and  that 
you  will  not  ask  me  to  go  and  see  her,"  and  he 
scowled  a  little  again. 

"  But  he  doesn't  hate  her  as  much  as  he  used  to, 
that  is  plain  enough  to  me,"  her  ladyship  said  to 
Sir  Harry  afterward.  "  And  he  is  a  changed  man 
in  a  measure,  and,  incredible  as  it  may  seem, 
Harry,  it  is  my  opinion  that  he  is  being  made  into 
a  human  being,  through  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  his  affection  for  that  innocent,  affectionate 
little  fellow.  Why,  the  child  actually  loves  him 
— leans  on  his  chair  and  against  his  knee.  His 
own  children  would  as  soon  have  thought  of  nest 
2ing  up  to  a  tiger." 

The  very  next  day  she  went  to  call  upon  Mrs, 
Krrol.  When  she  returned,  she  said  to  her  brother 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  211 

"  Molyneux,  she  is  the  loveliest  little  woman  I 
ever  saw  !  She  has  a  voice  like  a  silver  bell,  and 
you  may  thank  her  for  making  the  boy  what  he 
is.  She  has  given  him  more  than  her  beauty,  and 
you  make  a  great  mistake  in  not  persuading  her 
to  come  and  take  charge  of  you.  I  shall  invite 
her  to  Lorridaile." 

"  She'll  not  leave  the  boy,"  replied  the  Earl. 

"  I  must  have  the  boy  too,"  said  Lady  Lorri- 
daile, laughing. 

But  she  knew  Fauntleroy  would  not  be  given 
up  to  her,  and  each  day  she  saw  more  clearly  how 
closely  those  two  had  grown  to  each  other,  and 
how  all  the  proud,  grim  old  man's  ambition  and 
hope  and  love  centred  themselves  in  the  child, 
and  how  the  warm,  innocent  nature  returned  his 
affection  with  most  perfect  trust  and  good  faith. 

She  knew,  too,  that  the  prime  reason  for  the 
great  dinner  party  was  the  Earl's  secret  desire  to 
show  the  world  his  grandson  and  heir,  and  to 
let  people  see  that  the  boy  who  had  been  so  much 
spoken  of  and  described  was  even  a  finer  little 
specimen  of  boyhood  than  rumor  had  made  him. 

"  Bevis  and  Maurice  were  such  a  bitter  hu- 
miliation to  him,"  she  said  to  her  husband. 
"  Every  one  knew  it.  He  actually  hated  them. 
His  pride  has  full  sway  here."  Perhaps  there 
was  not  one  person  who  accepted  the  invitation 
without  feeling  some  curiosity  about  little  Lord 


212  Lzttle  Lord  Fauntleroy 

Fauntleroy,  and  wondering  if  he  would  be  on 
view. 

And  when  the  time  came  he  was  on  view. 

"The  lad  has  good  manners,"  said  the  Earl. 
"  He  will  be  in  no  one's  way.  Children  are 
usually  idiots  or  bores, — mine  were  both, — but  he 
can  actually  answer  when  he's  spoken  to,  and  be 
silent  when  he  is  not.  He  is  never  offensive." 

But  he  was  not  allowed  to  be  silent  very  long. 
Every  one  had  something  to  say  to  him.  The 
fact  was  they  wished  to  make  him  talk.  The 
ladies  petted  him  and  asked  him  questions,  and 
the  men  asked  him  questions  too,  and  joked  with 
him,  as  the  men  on  the  steamer  had  done  when 
he  crossed  the  Atlantic.  Fauntleroy  did  not  quite 
understand  why  they  laughed  so  sometimes  when 
he  answered  them,  but  he  was  so  used  to  seeing 
people  amused  when  he  was  quite  serious,  that  he 
did  not  mind.  He  thought  the  whole  evening 
delightful.  The  magnificent  rooms  were  so  brill- 
iant with  lights,  there  were  so  many  flowers,  the 
gentlemen  seemed  so  gay,  and  the  ladies  wore 
such  beautiful,  wonderful  dresses,  and  such  spark- 
ling ornaments  in  their  hair  and  on  their  necks. 
There  was  one  young  lady  who,  he  heard  them 
say,  had  just  come  down  from  London,  where 
she  had  spent  the  "  season " ;  and  she  was  so 
charming  that  he  could  not  keep  his  eyes  from 
her.  She  was  a  rather  tali  young  lady  with  a 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  213 

proud  little  head,  and  very  soft  dark  hair,  and 
large  eyes  the  color  of  purple  pansies,  and  the 
color  on  her  cheeks  and  lips  was  like  that  of  a 
rose.  She  was  dressed  in  a  beautiful  white  dress, 
and  had  pearls  around  her  throat.  There  was 
one  strange  thing  about  this  young  lady.  So 
many  gentlemen  stood  near  her,  and  seemed 
anxious  to  please  her,  that  Fauntleroy  thought 
she  must  be  something  like  a  princess.  He  was 
so  much  interested  in  her  that  without  knowing 
it  he  drew  nearer  and  nearer  to  her,  and  at  last 
she  turned  and  spoke  to  him. 

"  Come  here,  Lord  Fauntleroy,"  she  said,  smil- 
ing ;  "  and  tell  me  why  you  look  at  me  so." 

"  I  was  thinking  how  beautiful  you  are,"  his 
young  lordship  replied. 

Then  all  the  gentlemen  laughed  outright,  and 
the  young  lady  laughed  a  little  too,  and  the  rose 
color  in  her  cheeks  brightened. 

"  Ah,  Fauntleroy,"  said  one  of  the  gentlemen 
who  had  laughed  most  heartily,  "  make  the  most 
of  your  time  !  When  you  are  older  you  will  not 
have  the  courage  to  say  that." 

"  But  nobody  could  help  saying  it,"  said  Faunt- 
leroy, sweetly.  "  Could  you  help  it.  Don't  you 
think  she  is  pretty,  too  ?  " 

"We  are  not  allowed  to  say  what  we  think,* 
said  the  gentleman,  while  the  rest  laughed  more 
than  ever. 


214  Little  Lord  Faunileroy 

But  the  beautiful  young  lady — her  name  was 
Miss  Vivian  Herbert — put  out  her  hand  and  drew 
Cedric  to  her  side,  looking  prettier  than  before,  if 
possible. 

"  Lord  Fauntleroy  shall  say  what  he  thinks," 
she  said ;  "  and  I  am  much  obliged  to  him.  1  am 
sure  he  thinks  what  he  says/'  And  she  kissed 
him  on  his  cheek. 

"  I  think  you  are  prettier  than  any  one  I  ever 
saw,"  said  Fauntleroy,  looking  at  her  with  inno- 
cent, admiring  eyes,  "  except  Dearest.  Of  course, 
I  couldn't  think  any  one  quite  as  pretty  as 
Dearest.  I  think  she  is  the  prettiest  person  in 
the  world." 

"  I  am  sure  she  is,"  said  Miss  Vivian  Herbert 
And  she  laughed  and  kissed  his  cheek  again. 

She  kept  him  by  her  side  a  great  part  of  the 
evening,  and  the  group  of  which  they  were  the 
centre  was  very  gay.  He  did  not  know  how  it 
happened,  but  before  long  he  was  telling  them  all 
about  America,  and  the  Republican  Rally,  and 
Mr.  Hobbs  and  Dick,  and  in  the  end  he  proudly 
produced  from  his  pocket  Dick's  parting  gift, — 
the  red  silk  handkerchief. 

"  I  put  it  in  my  pocket  to-night  because  it  was 
a  party,"  he  said.  "  I  thought  Dick  would  like 
me  to  wear  it  at  a  party." 

And  queer  as  the  big,  flaming,  spotted  thing 
was,  there  was  a  serious,  affectionate  look  in  his 


I  WAS  THINKING  HOW   BEAUTIFUL  YOU  ARE,'  SAID   LORD  FAUNTLEROY." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

«yes,  which  prevented  his  audience  from  laugh 
ing  very  much. 

"  You  see,  I  like  it,"  he  said,  "  because  Dick  is 
my  friend." 

But  though  he  was  talked  to  so  much,  as  the 
Earl  had  said,  he  was  in  no  one's  way.  He  could 
be  quiet  and  listen  when  others  talked,  and  so  no 
one  found  him  tiresome.  A  slight  smile  crossed 
more  than  one  face  when  several  times  he  went 
and  stood  near  his  grandfather's  chair,  or  sat  on  a 
stool  close  to  him,  watching  him  and  absorbing 
every  word  he  uttered  with  the  most  charmed  in- 
terest. Once  he  stood  so  near  the  chair's  arm 
that  his  cheek  touched  the  Earl's  shoulder,  and 
his  lordship,  detecting  the  general  smile,  smiled  a 
little  himself.  He  knew  what  the  lookers-on  were 
thinking,  and  he  felt  some  secret  amusement  in 
their  seeing  what  good  friends  he  was  with  this 
youngster,  who  might  have  been  expected  to 
share  the  popular  opinion  of  him. 

Mr.  Havisham  had  been  expected  to  arrive  in 
the  afternoon,  but,  strange  to  say,  he  was  late. 
Such  a  thing  had  really  never  been  known  to  hap- 
pen before  during  all  the  years  in  which  he  had 
been  a  visitor  at  Dorincourt  Castle.  He  was  so 
late  that  the  guests  were  on  the  point  of  rising  to 
go  in  to  dinner  when  he  arrived.  When  he  ap- 
proached  his  host,  the  Earl  regarded  him  with 
amazement.  He  looked  as  if  he  had  been  hurried 


2i8  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

or  agitated ,  his  dry,  keen  old  face  was  actually 
pale. 

"  1  was  detained/'  he  said,  in  a  low  voice  to  the 
Earl,  "  by — an  extraordinary  event." 

It  was  as  unlike  the  methodic  old  lawyer  to  be 
agitated  by  anything  as  it  was  to  be  late,  but  it 
was  evident  that  he  had  been  disturbed.  At  din- 
ner  he  ate  scarcely  anything,  and  two  or  three 
times,  when  he  was  spoken  to,  he  started  as  if  his 
thoughts  were  far  away.  At  dessert,  when  Faunt- 
leroy  came  in,  he  looked  at  him  more  than  once, 
nervously  and  uneasily.  Fauntleroy  noted  the 
look  and  wondered  at  it.  He  and  Mr.  Havisham 
were  on  friendly  terms,  and  they  usually  exchanged 
smiles.  The  lawyer  seemed  to  have  forgotten  to 
smile  that  evening. 

The  fact  was,  he  forgot  everything  but  the 
strange  and  painful  news  he  knew  he  must  tell  the 
Earl  before  the  night  was  over — the  strange  news 
which  he  knew  would  be  so  terrible  a  shock,  and 
which  would  change  the  face  of  everything.  As 
be  looked  about  at  the  splendid  rooms  and  the 
brilliant  company. — at  the  people  gathered  to- 
gether, he  knew,  more  that  they  might  see  the 
bright-haired  little  fellow  near  the  Earl's  chair 
than  lor  any  other  reason, — as  he  looked  at  the 
proud  old  man  and  at  little  Lord  Fauntleroy 
smiling  at  his  side,  he  really  felt  quite  shaken, 
notwithstanding  that  he  was  a  hardened  old 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  219 

lawyer.  What  a  blow  it  was  that  he  must  deal 
them! 

He  did  not  exactly  know  how  the  long,  superb 
dinner  ended.  He  sat  through  it  as  if  he  were  in 
a  dream,  and  several  times  he  saw  the  Earl  glance 
at  him  in  surprise. 

But  it  was  over  at  last,  and  the  gentlemen 
joined  the  ladies  in  the  drawing-room.  They 
found  Fauntleroy  sitting  on  the  sofa  with  Miss 
Vivian  Herbert, — the  great  beauty  of  the  last 
London  season ;  they  had  been  looking  at  some 
pictures,  and  he  was  thanking  his  companion  as 
the  door  opened. 

"  I'm  ever  so  much  obliged  to  you  for  being  so 
kind  to  me  !  "  he  was  saying ;  "  I  never  was  at  a 
party  before,  and  Pve  enjoyed  myself  so  much  ! " 

He  had  enjoyed  himself  so  much  that  when  the 
gentlemen  gathered  about  Miss  Herbert  again 
and  began  to  talk  to  her,  as  he  listened  and  tried 
to  understand  their  laughing  speeches  his  eyelids 
began  to  droop.  They  drooped  until  they  cov- 
ered his  eyes  two  or  three  times,  and  then  the 
sound  of  Miss  Herbert's  low,  pretty  laugh  would 
bring  him  back,  and  he  would  open  them  again 
for  about  two  seconds.  He  was  quite  sure  he  was 
not  going  to  sleep,  but  there  was  a  large,  yellow 
satin  cushion  behind  him  and  his  head  sank  against 
it,  and  after  a  while  his  eyelids  drooped  for  the 
last  time.  They  did  not  even  quite  open  when, 


220  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

as  it  seemed  a  long  time  after,  some  one  kissed 
him  lightly  on  the  cheek.  It  was  Miss  Vivian 
Herbert,  who  was  going  away,  and  she  spoke  to 
him  softly. 

"  Good-night,  little  Lord  Fauntleroy,"  she  said. 
"  Sleep  well" 

And  in  the  morning  he  did  not  know  that  he 
had  tried  to  open  his  eyes  and  had  murmured 
sleepily,  "  Good-night — F  m  so — glad — I  saw  you 
— you  are  so — pretty " 

He  only  had  a  very  faint  recollection  of  hear, 
ing  the  gentlemen  laugh  again  and  of  wondering 
why  they  did  it 

No  sooner  had  the  last  guest  left  the  room,  than 
Mr.  Havisham  turned  from  his  place  by  the  fire, 
and  stepped  nearer  the  sofa,  where  he  stood  look- 
ing  down  at  the  sleeping  occupant.  Little  Lord 
Fauntleroy  was  taking  his  ease  luxuriously.  One 
leg  crossed  the  other  and  swung  over  the  edge  of 
the  sofa ;  one  arm  was  flung  easily  above  his  head  ; 
the  warm  flush  of  healthful,  happy,  childish  sleep 
was  on  his  quiet  face ;  his  waving  tangle  of  bright 
hair  strayed  over  the  yellow  satin  cushion.  He 
made  a  picture  well  worth  looking  at 

As  Mr.  Havisham  looked  at  it,  he  put  his  hand 
up  and  rubbed  his  shaven  chin,  with  a  harassed 
countenance. 

"  Well,  Havisham,"  said  the  Earl's  harsh  voice 
behind  him.  "  What  is  it  ?  It  is  evident  some- 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

tnmg  has  happened.     What  was  the 
nary  event,  it  I  may  ask  ?  " 

Mr.  Havisham  turned  from  the  sofa,  still  rub- 
bing  his  chin. 

"  It  was  bad  news,"  he  answered,  "  distressing 
news,  my  lord — the  worst  of  news.  I  am  sorry 
to  be  the  bearer  of  it." 

The  Earl  had  been  uneasy  for  some  time  dur- 
ing the  evening,  as  he  glanced  at  Mr.  Havisham, 
and  when  he  was  uneasy  he  was  always  ill-tem- 
pered. 

"Why  do  you  look  so  at  the  boy!"  he  ex. 
claimed  irritably.  "You  have  been  looking  at 
him  all  the  evening  as  if — See  here  now,  why 
should  you  look  at  the  boy,  Havisham,  and  hang 
over  him  like  some  bird  of  ill-omen !  What  has 
your  news  to  do  with  Lord  Fauntleroy  ?  " 

"  My  lord,'*  said  Mr.  Havisham,  "  I  will  waste 
no  words.  My  news  has  everything  to  do  with 
Lord  Fauntleroy.  And  if  we  are  to  believe  it — it 
is  not  Lord  Fauntleroy  who  lies  sleeping  before 
us,  but  only  the  son  of  Captain  Errol.  And  the 
present  Lord  Fauntleroy  is  the  son  of  your  son 
Bevis,  and  is  at  this  moment  in  a  lodging-house 
in  London." 

The  Earl  clutched  the  arms  of  his  chair  with 
both  his  hands  until  the  veins  stood  out  upon 
them;  the  veins  stood  out  on  his  forehead  too; 
his  fierce  old  face  was  almost  livid. 


222  Little  Lord 

"  What  do  you  mean  I  *  lie  crtea  out,  "  Yon 
are  mad  I  Whose  he  is  tftis  t 

"  If  it  is  a  lie, "  answered  Mr.  Havisham,  "it  is 
painfully  like  the  truth.  A  woman  came  to  my 
chambers  this  morning.  She  said  your  son  Bev- 
is  married  her  six  years  ago  in  London.  She 
showed  me  her  marriage  certificate.  They  quar- 
relled a  year  after  the  marriage,  and  he  paid  her 
to  keep  away  from  him.  She  has  a  son  five  years 
old.  She  is  an  American  of  the  lower  classes, — 
an  ignorant  person, — and  until  lately  she  did  not 
fully  understand  what  her  son  could  claim.  She 
consulted  a  lawyer  and  found  out  that  the  boy 
was  really  Lord  Fauntleroy  and  the  heir  to  the 
earldom  of  Dorincourt ;  and  she,  of  course,  insists 
on  his  claims  being  acknowledged.** 

There  was  a  movement  of  the  curly  head  on 
the  yellow  satin  cushion.  A  soft,  long,  sleepy 
sigh  came  from  the  parted  lips,  and  the  little  boy 
stirred  in  his  sleep,  but  not  at  all  restlessly  or  un- 
easily. Not  at  all  as  if  his  slumber  were  dis- 
turbed by  the  fact  that  he  was  being  proved  a 
small  impostor  and  that  he  was  not  Lord  Fauntle- 
roy at  all  and  never  would  be  the  Earl  of  Dorin- 
court. He  only  turned  his  rosy  face  more  on  its 
side,  as  if  to  enable  the  old  man  who  stared  at  it 
so  solemnly  to  see  it  better. 

The  handsome,  grim  old  tace  was  ghastly.  A 
bitter  smile  fixed  itself  upon  it. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  223 

"  I  should  refuse  to  believe  a  word  of  it,"  he 
said,  "  if  it  were  not  such  a  low,  scoundrelly  piece 
of  business  that  it  becomes  quite  possible  in  con- 
nection with  the  name  of  my  son  Bevis.  It  is 
quite  like  Bevis.  He  was  always  a  disgrace  to 
us.  Always  a  weak,  untruthful,  vicious  young- 
brute  with  low  tastes — my  son  and  heir,  Bevis, 
Lord  Fauntleroy.  The  woman  is  an  ignorant, 
vulgar  person,  you  say?" 

"I  am  obliged  to  admit  that  she  can  scarcely 
spell  her  own  name/*  answered  the  lawyer.  "  She 
is  absolutely  uneducated  and  openly  mercenary. 
She  cares  for  nothing  but  the  money.  She  is 
very  handsome  in  a  coarse  way,  but " 

The  fastidious  old  lawyer  ceased  speaking  and 
gave  a  sort  of  shudder. 

The  veins  on  the  old  Earl's  forehead  stood  out 
like  purple  cords.  Something  else  stood  out 
upon  it  too — cold  drops  ot  moisture.  He  took 
out  his  handkerchief  and  swept  them  away.  His 
smile  grew  even  more  bitter. 

"And  I,M  he  said,  "  I  objected  to— to  the  other 
woman,  the  mother  of  this  child  "  (pointing  to  the 
sleeping  form  on  the  sofa) ;  "  1  refused  to  recog- 
nize her.  And  yet  she  could  spell  her  own  name. 
I  suppose  this  is  retribution." 

Suddenly  he  sprang  up  from  his  chair  and  be- 
gan to  walk  up  and  down  the  room.  Fierce  and 
terrible  words  poured  forth  from  his  lips.  His 


224  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

rage  and  hatred  and  cruel  disappointment  shook 
him  as  a  storm  shakes  a  tree.  His  violence  was 
something  dreadful  to  see,  and  yet  Mr.  Havisham 
noticed  that  at  the  very  worst  of  his  wrath  he 
never  seemed  to  forget  the  little  sleeping  figure 
on  the  yellow  satin  cushion,  and  that  he  never 
once  spoke  loud  enough  to  awaken  it. 

"  I  might  have  known  it,"  he  said.  "  They 
were  a  disgrace  to  me  from  their  first  hour !  I 
hated  them  both ;  and  they  hated  me !  Bevis 
was  the  worse  of  the  two.  I  will  not  believe  this 
yet,  though  !  I  will  contend  against  it  to  the 
last.  But  it  is  like  Bevis — it  is  like  him !  " 

And  then  he  raged  again  and  asked  questions 
about  the  woman,  about  her  proofs,  and  pacing 
the  room,  turned  first  white  and  then  purple  in 
his  repressed  fury. 

When  at  last  he  had  learned  all  there  was  to  be 
told,  and  knew  the  worst,  Mr.  Havisham  looked 
at  him  with  a  feeling  of  anxiety.  He  looked 
broken  and  haggard  and  changed.  His  rages 
had  always  been  bad  for  him,  but  this  one  had 
been  worse  than  the  rest  because  there  had  been 
something  more  than  rage  in  it. 

He  came  slowly  back  to  the  sofa,  at  last,  and 
stood  near  it. 

"  If  any  one  had  told  me  I  could  be  fond  of  a 
child,"  he  said,  his  harsh  voice  low  and  unsteady, 
"  I  should  not  have  believed  them.  I  always  de- 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  225 

tested  children — my  own  more  than  the  rest  I 
am  fond  of  this  one ;  he  is  fond  of  me  "  (with  a 
bitter  smile).  "  I  am  not  popular ;  I  never  was. 
But  he  is  fond  of  me.  He  never  was  afraid  of 
me — he  always  trusted  me.  He  would  have  filled 
my  place  better  than  I  have  filled  it.  I  know 
that.  He  would  have  been  an  honor  to  the 
name." 

He  bent  down  and  stood  a  minute  or  so  looking 
at  the  happy,  sleeping  face.  His  shaggy  eye- 
brows were  knitted  fiercely,  and  yet  somehow  he 
did  not  seem  fierce  at  all.  He  put  up  his  hand, 
pushed  the  bright  hair  back  from  the  forehead, 
and  then  turned  away  and  rang  the  bell. 

When  the  largest  footman  appeared,  he  pointed 
to  the  sofa. 

"  Take  " — he  said,  and  then  his  voice  changed 
a  little — "  take  Lord  Fauntleroy  to  his  room." 

IS 


XI 

WHEN  Mr.  Hobbs's  young  friend  left  him  to 
go  to  Dorincourt  Castle  and  become  Lord  Fauntle- 
roy,  and  the  grocery-man  had  time  to  realize  that 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  lay  between  himself  and  the 
small  companion  who  had  spent  so  many  agree- 
able hours  in  his  society,  he  really  began  to  feel 
very  lonely  indeed.  The  fact  was,  Mr.  Hobbs  was 
not  a  clever  man  nor  even  a  bright  one ;  he  was, 
indeed,  rather  a  slow  and  heavy  person,  and  he 
had  never  made  many  acquaintances.  He  was  not 
mentally  energetic  enough  to  know  how  to  amuse 
himself,  and  in  truth  he  never  did  anything  of  an 
entertaining  nature  but  read  the  newspapers  and 
add  up  his  accounts.  It  was  not  very  easy  for 
him  to  add  up  his  accounts,  and  sometimes  it 
took  him  a  long  time  to  bring  them  out  right ; 
and  in  the  old  days,  little  Lord  Fauntleroy,  who 
had  learned  how  to  add  up  quite  nicely  with  his 
fingers  and  a  slate  and  pencil,  had  sometimes  even 
gone  to  the  length  of  trying  to  help  him ;  and,  then 
too,  he  had  been  so  good  a  listener  and  had  taken 
such  an  interest  in  what  the  newspaper  said,  and 
he  and  Mr.  Hobbs  had  held  such  long  converse 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  227 

tions  about  the  Revolution  and  the  British  and 
the  elections  and  the  Republican  party,  that  it 
was  no  wonder  his  going  left  a  blank  in  the  gro- 
rery  store.  At  first  it  seemed  to  Mr.  Hobbs  that 
Cedric  was  not  really  far  away,  and  would  corne 
back  again ;  that  some  day  he  would  look  up 
from  his  paper  and  see  the  little  lad  standing  in 
the  door-way,  in  his  white  suit  and  red  stockings, 
and  with  his  straw  hat  on  the  back  of  his  head, 
and  would  hear  him  say  in  his  cheerful  little 
voice :  "  Hello,  Mr.  Hobbs !  This  is  a  hot  day — 
isn't  it?"  But  as  the  days  passed  on  and  this  did 
not  happen,  Mr.  Hobbs  felt  very  dull  and  uneasy. 
He  did  not  even  enjoy  his  newspaper  as  much  as 
he  used  to.  He  would  put  the  paper  down  on 
his  knee  after  reading  it,  and  sit  and  stare  at  the 
high  stool  for  a  long  time.  There  were  some 
marks  on  the  long  legs  which  made  him  feel 
quite  dejected  and  melancholy.  They  were  marks 
made  by  the  heels  of  the  next  Earl  of  Dorincourt, 
when  he  kicked  and  talked  at  the  same  time.  It 
seems  that  even  youthful  earls  kick  the  legs  of 
things  they  sit  on ; — noble  blood  and  lofty  lineage 
do  not  prevent  it.  After  looking  at  those  marks, 
Mr.  Hobbs  would  take  out  his  gold  watch  and 
open  it  and  stare  at  the  inscription:  "From  his 
oldest  friend,  Lord  Fauntleroy,  to  Mr.  Hobbs. 
When  this  you  see,  remember  me."  And  after 
staring  at  it  awhile,  he  would  shut  it  up  with  a 


228  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

loud  snap,  and  sigh  and  get  up  and  go  and  stand 
in  the  door-way — between  the  box  of  potatoes 
and  the  barrel  of  apples — and  look  up  the  street. 
At  night,  when  the  store  was  closed,  he  would 
light  his  pipe  and  walk  slowly  along  the  pavement 
until  he  reached  the  house  where  Cedric  had 
lived,  on  which  there  was  a  sign  that  read,  "  This 
House  to  Let;"  and  he  would  stop  near  it  and 
look  up  and  shake  his  head,  and  puff  at  his  pipe 
very  hard,  and  after  a  while  walk  mournfully  back 
again. 

This  went  on  for  two  or  three  weeks  before  any 
new  idea  came  to  him.  Being  slow  and  ponder, 
ous,  it  always  took  him  a  long  time  to  reach  a 
new  idea.  As  a  rule,  he  did  not  like  new  ideas, 
but  preferred  old  ones.  After  two  or  three  weeks, 
however,  during  which,  instead  of  getting  better, 
matters  really  grew  worse,  a  novel  plan  slowly 
and  deliberately  dawned  upon  him.  He  would 
go  to  see  Dick.  He  smoked  a  great  many  pipes 
before  he  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  but  finally  he 
did  arrive  at  it.  He  would  go  to  see  Dick.  He 
knew  all  about  Dick.  Cedric  had  told  him,  and 
his  idea  was  that  perhaps  Dick  might  be  some 
comfort  to  him  in  the  way  of  talking  things 
over. 

So  one  day  when  Dick  was  very  hard  at  work 
blacking  a  customer's  boots,  a  short,  stout  man 
with  a  heavy  face  and  a  bald  head  stopped  on  the 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  229 

pavement  and  stared  for  two  or  three  minutes  at 
the  bootblack's  sign,  which  read : 

"PROFESSOR   DlCK   TlPTON 

CAN'T  BE  BEAT." 

He  stared  at  it  so  long  that  Dick  began  to  take 
a  lively  interest  in  him,  and  when  he  had  put  the 
finishing  touch  to  his  customer's  boots,  he  said : 

"Want  a  shine,  sir?" 

The  stout  man  came  forward  deliberately  and 
put  his  foot  on  the  rest. 

"Yes,"  he  said. 

Then  when  Dick  fell  to  work,  the  stout  man 
looked  from  Dick  to  the  sign  and  from  the  sign 
to  Dick. 

"  Where  did  you  get  that  ?  "  he  asked. 

"From  a  friend  o'  mine,"  said  Dick, — "a  little 
feller.  He  guv*  me  the  whole  outfit.  He  was 
the  best  little  feller  ye  ever  saw.  He's  in  England 
now.  Gone  to  be  one  o'  them  lords." 

"  Lord — Lord —  "  asked  Mr.  Hobbs,  with  pon- 
derous slowness,  "  Lord  Fauntleroy — Goin'  to  be 
Earl  of  Dorincourt?" 

Dick  almost  dropped  his  brush. 

"  Why,  boss ! "  he  exclaimed,  "  d'ye  know  him 
yerself?" 

"  I've  known  him,"  answered  Mr.  Hobbs,  wiping 
his  warm  forehead,  "  ever  since  he  was  born.  We 
was  lifetime  acquaintances — that's  what  we  was." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 


It  really  made  him  feel  quite  agitated  to  speak 
of  it.  He  pulled  the  splendid  gold  watch  out  of 
his  pocket  and  opened  it,  and  showed  the  inside 
of  the  case  to  Dick. 


"WHY,  BOSS!"  EXCLAIMED  DICK,  "D'YE  KNOW  ,*IM  YERSELF?" 

«* '  When  this  you  see,  remember  me,' "  he  read 
*  That  was  his  parting  keepsake  to  me.  '  I 
don't  want  you  to  forget  me* — those  was  his 
^words — I'd  ha*  remembered  him,"  he  went  on* 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  231 

shaking  his  head,  M  if  he  hadn't  given  me  a  thing, 
an*  I  hadn't  seen  hide  nor  hair  on  him  again.  He 
was  a  companion  as  any  man  would  remember." 

•'  He  was  the  nicest  little  feller  I  ever  see,"  said 
Dick,  "  An'  as  to  sand — I  never  seen  so  much 
sand  to  a  little  feller,  I  thought  a  heap  o'  him,  I 
did — an*  we  was  friends,  too — we  was  sort  o' 
chums  from  the  fust,  that  little  young  un  an*  me. 
I  grabbed  his  ball  from  under  a  stage  fur  him, 
an'  he  never  forgot  it ;  an*  he'd  come  down  here, 
he  would,  with  his  mother  or  his  nuss  and  he'd 
holler:  *  Hello,  Dick!'  at  me,  as  friendly  as  if  he 
was  six  feet  high,  when  he  warn't  knee  high  to  a 
grasshopper,  and  was  dressed  in  gal's  clo'es.  He 
was  a  gay  little  chap,  and  when  you  was  down  on 
your  luck,  it  did  you  good  to  talk  to  him." 

"  That's  so,"  said  Mr.  Hobbs.  "  It  was  a  pity 
to  make  a  earl  3ut  of  him.  He  would  have  shone 
in  the  grocery  business — or  dry  goods  either ;  he 
would  have  shone  !  "  And  he  shook  his  head  with 
deeper  regret  than  ever. 

It  proved  that  they  had  so  much  to  say  to  each 
other  that  it  was  not  possible  to  say  it  all  at  one 
time,  and  so  it  was  agreed  that  the  next  night 
Dick  should  make  a  visit  to  the  store  and  keep 
Mr.  Hobbs  company.  The  plan  pleased  Dick 
well  enough.  He  had  been  a  street  waif  nearly 
all  his  life,  but  he  had  never  been  a  bad  boy,  and 
he  had  always  had  a  private  yearning  for  a  more 


232  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

respectable  kind  of  existence.  Since  he  had  been 
in  business  for  himself,  he  had  made  enough 
money  to  enable  him  to  sleep  under  a  roof  instead 
of  out  in  the  streets,  and  he  had  begun  to  hope  he 
might  reach  even  a  higher  plane,  in  time.  vSo,  to 
be  invited  to  call  on  a  stout,  respectable  man  who 
owned  a  corner  store,  and  even  had  a  horse  and 
wagon,  seemed  to  him  quite  an  event. 

"  Do  you  know  anything  about  earls  and  cas- 
tles?" Mr.  Hobbs  inquired.  "  I'd  like  to  know 
more  of  the  particklars." 

"  There's  a  story  about  some  on  'em  in  the 
Penny  Story  Gazette"  said  Dick.  "  It's  called  the 
'Crime  of  a  Coronet;  or,  The  Revenge  of  the 
Countess  May.'  It's  a  boss  thing,  too.  Some  of 
us  boys're  takin*  it  to  read." 

"  Bring  it  up  when  you  come,"  said  Mr.  Hobbs, 
"  an'  I'll  pay  for  it.  Bring  all  you  can  find  that 
have  any  earls  in  'em.  If  there  aren't  earls, 
markises'll  do,  or  dooks — though  he  never  made 
mention  of  any  dooks  or  markises.  We  did  go 
over  coronets  a  little,  but  I  never  happened  to  see 
any.  I  guess  they  don't  keep  'em  'round  here." 

"Tiffany'd  have  'em  if  anybody  did,"  said 
Dick,  "  but  I  don't  know  as  I'd  know  one  if  I 
saw  it." 

Mr.  Hobbs  did  not  explain  that  he  would  not 
have  known  one  if  he  saw  it.  He  merely  shook 
his  head  ponderously. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  233 

*  I  s'pose  there  is  very  little  call  for  'em/1  he 
said,  and  that  ended  the  matter. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  quite  a  substantial 
friendship.  When  Dick  went  up  to  the  store, 
Mr.  Hobbs  received  him  with  great  hospitality. 
He  gave  him  a  chair  tilted  against  the  door,  near 
a  barrel  of  apples,. and  after  his  young  visitor  was 
seated,  he  made  a  jerk  at  them  with  the  hand  in 
which  he  held  his  pipe,  saying : 

"  Help  yerself." 

Then  he  looked  at  the  story  papers,  and  after 
that  they  read  and  discussed  the  British  aristoc- 
racy ;  and  Mr.  Hobbs  smoked  his  pipe  very  hard 
and  shook  his  head  a  great  deal.  He  shook  it 
most  when  he  pointed  out  the  high  stool  with  the 
marks  on  its  legs. 

"  There's  his  very  kicks,"  he  said  impressively; 
"his  very  kicks.  I  sit  and  look  at  'em  by  the 
hour.  This  is  a  world  of  ups  an'  it's  a  world  of 
downs.  Why,  he'd  set  there,  an*  eat  crackers  out 
of  a  box,  an*  apples  out  of  a  barrel,  an'  pitch  his 
cores  into  the  street ;  an'  now  he's  a  lord  a-livin'  in 
a  castle.  Them's  a  lord's  kicks  ;  they'll  be  a  earl's 
kicks  some  day.  Sometimes  I  says  to  myself, 
says  I,  '  Well,  I'll  be  jiggered  !'" 

He  seemed  to  derive  a  great  deal  of  comfort 
from  his  reflections  and  Dick's  visit.  Before 
Dick  went  home,  they  had  a  supper  in  the  small 
back-room  ;  they  had  crackers  and  cheese  and 


234  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

sardines,  and  other  canned  things  out  of  the  store, 
and  Mr.  Hobbs  solemnly  opened  two  bottles  of 
ginger  ale,  and  pouring  out  two  glasses,  proposed 
a  toast. 

"  Here's  to  him !  "  he  said,  lifting  his  glass, 
"an*  may  he  teach  'em  a  lesson — earls  an*  mar- 
kises  an'  dooks  an'  all !  " 

After  that  night,  the  two  saw  each  other  often, 
and  Mr.  Hobbs  was  much  more  comfortable  and 
less  desolate.  They  read  the  Penny  Story  Gazette, 
and  many  other  interesting  things,  and  gained 
a  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  the  nobility  and 
gentry  which  would  have  surprised  those  de- 
spised classes  if  they  had  realized  it  One  day 
Mr.  Hobbs  made  a  pilgrimage  to  a  book  store 
down  town,  for  the  express  purpose  of  adding  to 
their  library.  He  went  to  the  clerk  and  leaned 
over  the  counter  to  speak  to  him 

"  I  want,"  he  said,  "  a  book  about  earls. " 

"  What !  "  exclaimed  the  clerk. 

"  A  book,"  repeated  the  grocery-man,  "  about 
earls." 

"I'm  afraid,"  said  the  clerk,  looking  rather 
queer,  "  that  we  haven't  what  you  want." 

"  Haven't  ?  "  said  Mr.  Hobbs,  anxiously.  "  Well, 
say  markises  then — or  dooks." 

"  I  know  of  no  such  book,"  answered  the  clerk. 

Mr.  Hobbs  was  much  disturbed.  He  looked 
down  on  the  floor — then  he  looked  up. 


Little  Lord  Fauntlcroy  235 

"  None  about  female  earls  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  I'm  afraid  not,"  said  the  clerk  with  a  smile. 

"Well,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Hobbs,  "Til  be  jig- 
gered!" 

He  was  just  going  out  of  the  store,  when  the 
clerk  called  him  back  and  asked  him  if  a  story  in 
which  the  nobility  were  chief  characters  would 
do.  Mr.  Hobbs  said  it  would — if  he  could  not 
get  an  entire  volume  devoted  to  earls.  So  the 
clerk  sold  him  a  book  called  "The  Tower  of 
London,"  written  by  Mr.  Harrison  Ainsworth, 
and  he  carried  it  home. 

When  Dick  came  they  began  to  read  it.  It 
was  a  very  wonderful  and  exciting  book,  and  the 
scene  was  laid  in  the  reign  of  the  famous  English 
queen  who  is  called  by  some  people  Bloody 
Mary.  And  as  Mr.  Hobbs  heard  of  Queen 
Mary's  deeds  and  the  habit  she  had  of  chopping 
people's  heads  off,  putting  them  to  the  torture, 
and  burning  them  alive,  he  became  very  much 
excited.  He  took  his  pipe  out  of  his  mouth 
and  stared  at  Dick,  and  at  last  he  was  obliged  to 
mop  the  perspiration  from  his  brow  with  his  red 
pocket  handkerchief. 

"  Why,  he  aint  safe !  "  he  said.  "  He  aint  safe  ! 
If  the  women  folks  can  sit  up  on  their  thrones  an* 
give  the  word  for  things  like  that  to  be  done, 
who's  to  know  what's  happening  to  him  this 
very  minute  ?  He's  no  more  safe  than  nothing ! 


236  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

Just  let  a  woman  like  that  get  mad,  an*  no  one's 
safe ! " 

"Well/*  said  Dick,  though  he  looked  rather 
anxious  himself ;  "  ye  see  this  'ere  un  isn't  the 
one  that's  bossin'  things  now.  I  know  her  name's 
Victory,  an*  this  un  here  in  the  book,  her  name's 
Mary." 

"  So  it  is,"  said  Mr.  Hobbs,  still  mopping  his 
forehead ;  "  so  it  is  An*  the  newspapers  are  not 
sayin'  anything  about  any  racks,  thumb-screws, 
or  stake-burnin's — but  still  it  doesn't  seem  as  if't 
was  safe  for  him  over  there  with  those  queer 
folks.  Why,  they  tell  me  they  don't  keep  the 
Fourth  o'  July  !  " 

He  was  privately  uneasy  for  several  days; 
and  it  was  not  until  he  received  Fauntleroy's 
letter  and  had  read  it  several  times,  both  to  him- 
self  and  to  Dick,  and  had  also  read  the  letter 
Dick  got  about  the  same  time,  that  he  became 
composed  again. 

But  they  both  found  great  pleasure  in  their 
letters.  They  read  and  re-read  them,  and  talked 
them  over  and  enjoyed  every  word  of  them. 
And  they  spent  days  over  the  answers  they  sent, 
and  read  them  over  almost  as  often  as  the  letters 
they  had  received. 

It  was  rather  a  labor  for  Dick  to  write  his.  All 
his  knowledge  of  reading  and  writing  he  had 
gained  during  a  few  months,  when  he  had  lived 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  237 

with  his  elder  brother,  and  had  gone  to  a  night- 
school  ;  but,  being  a  sharp  boy,  he  had  made  the 
most  of  that  brief  education,  and  had  spelled  out 
things  in  newspapers  since  then,  and  practised 
writing  with  bits  of  chalk  on  pavements  or  walls 
or  fences.  He  told  Mr.  Hobbs  all  about  his  life 
and  about  his  elder  brother,  who  had  been  rather 
good  to  him  after  their,  mother  died,  when  Dick 
was  quite  a  little  fellow.  Their  father  had  died 
some  time  before.  The  brother's  name  was  Ben, 
and  he  had  taken  care  of  Dick  as  well  as  he  could, 
until  the  boy  was  old  enough  to  sell  newspapers 
and  run  errands.  They  had  lived  together,  and 
as  he  grew  older  Ben  had  managed  to  get  along 
until  he  had  quite  a  decent  place  in  a  store. 

"And  then,"  exclaimed  Dick  with  disgust, 
"  blest  if  he  didn't  go  an*  marry  a  gal !  Just  went 
and  got  spoony  an'  hadn't  any  more  sense  left ! 
Married  her,  an*  set  up  housekeepin*  in  two  back 
rooms.  An*  a  hefty  un  she  was, — a  regular  tiger- 
cat.  She'd  tear  things  to  pieces  when  she  got 
mad, — and  she  was  mad  all  the  time.  Had  a 
baby  just  like  her — yell  day  V  night !  An'  if  I 
didn't  have  to  'tend  it !  an*  when  it  screamed, 
she'd  fire  things  at  me.  She  fired  a  plate  at  me  one 
day,  an*  hit  the  baby — cut  it's  chin.  Doctor  said 
he'd  carry  the  mark  till  he  died.  A  nice  mother 
she  was !  Crackey  !  but  didn't  we  have  a  time — 
Ben  'n'  mehself  'n*  the  young  un.  She  was  mad 


238  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

at  Ben  because  he  didn't  make  money  faster;  V 
at  last  he  went  out  West  with  a  man  to  set  up  a 
cattle  ranch.  An'  hadn't  been  gone  a  week  'fore 
one  night,  I  got  home  from  sellin'  my  papers,  'n* 
the  rooms  wus  locked  up  'n'  empty,  'n'  the  woman 
o'  the  house,  she  told  me  Minna'd  gone — shown  a 
clean  pair  o'  heels.  Some  un  else  said  she'd  gone 
across  the  water  to  be  nuss  to  a  lady  as  had  a  lit. 
tie  baby,  too.  Never  heard  a  word  of  her  since 
— nuther  has  Ben.  If  I'd  ha*  bin  him,  I  wouldn't 
ha'  fretted  a  bit— 'n'  I  guess  he  didn't.  But  he 
thought  a  heap  o*  her  at  the  start.  Tell  you,  he 
was  spoons  on  her.  She  was  a  daisy-lookin*  gal, 
too,  when  she  was  dressed  up  *n'  not  mad.  She'd 
big  black  eyes  'n'  black  hair  down  to  her  knees  ; 
she'd  make  it  into  a  rope  as  big  as  your  arm,  and 
twist  it  'round  'n'  'round  her  head ;  'n'  I  tell  you 
her  eyes'd  snap !  Folks  used  to  say  she  was  part 
/tali-un — said  her  mother  or  father'd  come  from 
there,  'n'  it  made  her  queer.  I  tell  ye,  she  was 
one  of  'em — she  was  I w 

He  often  told  Mr.  Hobbs  stories  of  her  and  of 
his  brother  Ben,  who,  since  his  going  out  West, 
had  written  once  or  twice  to  Dick.  Ben's  luck 
had  not  been  good,  and  he  had  wandered  from 
place  to  place ;  but  at  last  he  had  settled  on  a 
ranch  in  California,  where  he  was  at  work  at  the 
time  when  Dick  became  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Hobba. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  239 

"That  gal,"  said  Dick  one  day,  "  she  took  all 
the  grit  out  o'  him.  I  couldn't  help  feelin'  sorry 
for  him  sometimes." 

They  were  sitting  in  the  store  door-way  to- 
gether, and  Mr.  Hobbs  was  filling  his  pipe. 

"  He  oughtn't  to've  married,"  he  said  solemnly, 
as  he  rose  to  get  a  match.  "  Women — I  never 
could  see  any  use  in  'em,  myself." 

As  he  took  the  match  from  its  box,  he  stopped 
and  looked  down  on  the  counter. 

"Why!"  he  said,  "if  here  isn't  a  letter!  I 
didn't  see  it  before.  The  postman  must  have  laid 
it  down  when  I  wasn't  noticing  or  the  newspaper 
slipped  over  it." 

He  picked  it  up  and  looked  at  it  carefully. 

"  It's  from  him  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  That's  the 
very  one  it's  from ! " 

He  forgot  his  pipe  altogether.  He  went  back 
to  his  chair  quite  excited  and  took  his  pocket- 
knife  and  opened  the  envelope. 

"  1  wonder  what  news  there  is  this  time,"  he 
said. 

And  then  he  unfolded  the  letter  and  read  as 
follows : 

"DORINCOURT  CASTLE 

•«  My  dear  Mr.  Hobbs 

'•  I  write  this  in  a  great  hury  becaus  i  have  something  curous 
to  tell  you  i  know  you  will  be  very  mutch  suprised  my  dear 
frend  when  i  tel  you.  It  is  all  a  mistake  and  i  am  not  a  lord  and 
i  shall  not  have  to  be  an  earl  there  is  a  lady  whiten  was  marid 


240  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

to  my  uncle  bevis  who  is  dead  and  she  has  a  little  boy  and  he  is 
lord  fauntleroy  becaus  that  is  the  way  it  is  in  England  the  earls 
eldest  sons  little  boy  is  the  earl  if  every  body  else  is  dead  i 
mean  if  his  farther  and  grandfarther  are  dead  my  grandfarther 
is  not  dead  but  my  uncle  bevis  is  and  so  his  boy  is  lord  Faunt- 
eroy  and  i  am  not  becaus  my  papa  was  the  youngest  son  and 
my  name  is  Cedric  Errol  like  it  was  when  i  was  in  New  York 
and  all  the  things  will  belong  to  the  other  boy  i  thought  at  first 
i  should  have  to  give  him  my  pony  and  cart  but  my  grandfar- 
ther says  i  need  not  my  grandfarther  isvery  sorry  and  i  think 
he  does  not  like  the  lady  but  preaps  he  thinks  dearest  and  i  are 
sorry  because  i  shall  not  be  an  earl  i  would  like  to  be  an  earl 
now  better  than  i  thout  i  would  at  first  becaus  this  is  a  beautifle 
castle  and  i  like  every  body  so  and  when  you  are  rich  you  can 
do  so  many  things  i  am  not  rich  now  becaus  when  your  papa  is 
only  the  youngest  son  he  is  not  very  rich  i  am  going  to  learn  to 
work  so  that  i  can  take  care  of  dearest  i  have  been  asking  Wil- 
kins  about  grooming  horses  preaps  i  might  be  a  groom  or  a 
coachman,  the  lady  brought  her  little  boy  to  the  castle  and  my 
grandfarther  and  Mr  Havisham  talked  to  her  i  think  she  was  an- 
gry she  talked  loud  and  my  grandfarther  was  angry  too  i  never 
saw  .him  angry  before  i  wish  it  did  not  make  them  all  mad  i 
thort  i  would  tell  you  and  Dick  right  away  becaus  you  would  be 
intrusted  so  no  more  at  present  with  love  from 

44  your  old  f  rend 

"  CEDRIC  ERROL  (Not  lord  Fauntleroy).  " 


Hobbs  fell  back  in  his  chair,  the  letter 
propped  on  his  knee,  his  pen-knife  slipped  to  the 
^tioor,  and  so  did  the  envelope. 

"  Well  !  "  he  ejaculated,  "  I  am  jiggered  f  " 
He    was     so    dumfounded     that    he    actually 
changed  his  exclamation.     It  had  always  been  his 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  241 

habit  to  say,  "  I  will  be  jiggered,"  but  this  time 
he  said,  "  I  am  jiggered.*'  Perhaps  he  really  was 
jiggered.  There  is  no  knowing. 

"  Well,"  said  Dick,  "  the  whole  thing's  bust  up, 
hasn't  it?" 

"  Bust ! "  said  Mr.  Hobbs.  "  It's  my  opinion  it's 
a  put-up  job  o'  the  British  'ristycrats  to  rob  him 
of  his  rights  because  he's  an  American.  They've 
had  a  spite  agin  us  ever  since  the  Revolution,  an' 
they're  takin'  it  out  on  him.  I  told  you  he  wasn't 
safe,  an'  see  what's  happened  !  Like  as  not,  the 
whole  gover'ment's  got  together  to  rob  him  of 
his  lawful  ownin's." 

He  was  very  much  agitated.  He  had  not  ap- 
proved of  the  change  in  his  young  friend's  cir- 
cumstances at  first,  but  lately  he  had  become  more 
reconciled  to  it,  and  after  the  receipt  of  Cedric's 
letter  he  had  perhaps  even  felt  some  secret  pride 
in  his  young  friend's  magnificence.  He  might 
not  have  a  good  opinion  of  earls,  but  he  knew  that 
even  in  America  money  was  considered  rather  an 
agreeable  thing,  and  if  all  the  wealth  and  gran- 
deur  were  to  go  with  the  title,  it  must  be  rather 
hard  to  lose  it. 

"  They're  trying  to  rob  him  ! "  he  said,  "  that's 
what  they're  doing,  and  folks  that  have  money 
ought  to  look  after  him." 

And  he  kept  Dick  with  him  until  quite  a  late 
hour  to  talk  it  over,  and  when  that  young  man 
16 


242  Little  Lord  Faunileroy 

left,  he  went  with  him  to  the  corner  of  the  street ; 
and  on  his  way  back  he  stopped  opposite  the 
empty  house  for  some  time,  staring  at  the  "  To 
Let,"  and  smoking  his  pipe,  in  much  disturbance 
of  mind. 


XII 

A  VERY  few  days  after  the  dinner  party  at  the 
Castle,  almost  everybody  in  England  who  read 
the  newspapers  at  all  knew  the  romantic  story  of 
what  had  happened  at  Dorincourt.  It  made  a 
very  interesting  story  when  it  was  told  with  all 
the  details.  There  was  the  little  American  boy 
who  had  been  brought  to  England  to  be  Lord 
Fauntleroy,  and  who  was  said  to  be  so  fine  and 
handsome  a  little  fellow,  and  to  have  already  made 
people  fond  of  him  ;  there  was  the  old  Earl,  his 
grandfather,  who  was  so  proud  of  his  heir ;  there 
was  the  pretty  young  mother  who  had  never 
been  forgiven  for  marrying  Captain  Errol ;  and 
there  was  the  strange  marriage  of  Bevis,  the  dead 
Lord  Fauntleroy,  and  the  strange  wife,  of  whom 
no  one  knew  anything,  suddenly  appearing  with 
her  son,  and  saying  that  he  was  the  real  Lord 
Fauntleroy  and  must  have  his  rights.  All  these 
things  were  talked  about  and  written  about,  and 
caused  a  tremendous  sensation.  And  then  there 
came  the  rumor  that  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  turn  affairs  had  taken,  and 


244  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

would  perhaps  contest  the  claim  by  law,  and  the 
matter  might  end  with  a  wonderful  trial. 

There  never  had  been  such  excitement  before 
in  the  county  in  which  Erleboro  was  situated. 
On  market-days,  people  stood  in  groups  and 
talked  and  wondered  what  would  be  done;  the 
farmers'  wives  invited  one  another  to  tea  that 
they  might  tell  one  another  all  they  had  heard 
and  all  they  thought  and  all  they  thought  other 
people  thought.  They  related  wonderful  anec- 
dotes about  the  Earl's  rage  and  his  determination 
not  to  acknowledge  the  new  Lord  Fauntleroy, 
*ind  his  hatred  of  the  woman  who  was  the  claim- 
ant's mother.  But,  of  course,  it  was  Mrs.  Dibble 
who  could  tell  the  most,  and  who  was  more  in 
demand  than  ever. 

"  An*  a  bad  lookout  it  is,"  she  said.  "  An*  if  you 
were  to  ask  me,  ma'am,  I  should  say  as  it  was 
a  judgment  on  him  for  the  way  he's  treated  that 
sweet  young  cre'tur'  as  he  parted  from  her  child 
—  for  he's  got  that  fond  of  him  an'  that  set  on  him 
an*  that  proud  of  him  as  he's  a'most  drove  mad 
by  what's  happened.  An'  what's  more,  this  new 
one's  no  lady,  as  his  little  lordship's  ma  is.  She's 
a  bold-faced,  black-eyed  thing,  as  Mr.  Thomas 
says  no  gentleman  in  livery  'u'd  bemean  hisself  to 
be  gave  orders  by  ;  and  let  her  come  into  the 
house,  he  says,  an'  he  goes  out  of  it.  An*  the  boy 
don't  no  more  compare  with  the  other  one  than 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  245 

nothin'  you  could  mention.  An*  mercy  knows 
what's  goin'  to  come  of  it  all,  an*  where  it's  to 
end,  an*  you  might  have  knocked  me  down  with  a 
feather  when  Jane  brought  the  news." 

In  fact  there  was  excitement  everywhere  at  the 
Castle:  in  the  library,  where  the  Earl  and  Mr, 
Havisham  sat  and  talked ;  in  the  servants'  hall, 
where  Mr.  Thomas  and  the  butler  and  the  other 
men  and  women  servants  gossiped  and  ex. 
claimed  at  all  times  of  the  day  ;  and  in  the  stables, 
where  Wilkins  went  about  his  work  in  a  quite 
depressed  state  of  mind,  and  groomed  the  brown 
pony  more  beautifully  than  ever,  and  said  mourn- 
fully to  the  coachman  that  he  "  never  taught  a 
young  gen'leman  to  ride  as  took  to  it  more 
nat'ral,  or  was  a  better-plucked  one  than  he  was. 
He  was  a  one  as  it  were  some  pleasure  to  ride 
behind." 

But  in  the  midst  of  all  the  disturbance  there 
was  one  person  who  was  quite  calm  and  un- 
troubled. That  person  was  the  little  Lord  Faunt- 
leroy who  was  said  not  to  be  Lord  Fauntleroy  at 
all  When  first  the  state  of  affairs  had  been  ex. 
plained  to  him,  he  had  felt  some  little  anxiousness 
and  perplexity,  it  is  true,  but  its  foundation  was 
not  in  baffled  ambition. 

While  the  Earl  told  him  what  had  happened,  he 
had  sat  on  a  stool  holding  on  to  his  knee,  as  he  so 
often  did  when  he  was  listening  to  anything  inter- 


246  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

csting  ;  and  by  the  time  the  story  was  finished  he 
looked  quite  sober. 

"It  makes  me  feel  very  queer,"  he  said;  "it 
makes  me  feel — queer! " 

The  Earl  looked  at  the  boy  in  silence.  It  made 
him  feel  queer,  too — queerer  than  he  had  ever 
felt  in  his  whole  life.  And  he  felt  more  queer 
still  when  he  saw  that  there  was  a  troubled  ex- 
pression on  the  small  face  which  was  usually  so 
happy. 

"  Will  they  take  Dearest's  house  from  her — and 
her  carriage  ?"  Cedric  asked  in  a  rather  unsteady, 
anxious  little  voice. 

"  No  !  "  said  the  Earl  decidedly — in  quite  a  loud 
voice,  in  fact.  "  They  can  take  nothing  from 
her." 

"  Ah ! "  said  Cedric,  with  evident  relief.  "  Can't 
they?" 

Then  he  looked  up  at  his  grandfather,  and 
there  was  a  wistful  shade  in  his  eyes,  and  they 
looked  very  big  and  soft. 

"  That  other  boy,"  he  said  rather  tremulously 
— "  he  will  have  to— to  be  your  boy  now— as  I  wa* 
—won't  he?" 

"No!"  answered  the  Earl— and  he  said  it  so 
fiercely  and  loudly  that  Cedric  cuite  jumped. 

"  No  ?  "  he  exclaimed,  in  worn  arment  "  Won't 
he?  I  thought " 

He  stood  up  from  his  stool  quite  §  iddenly. 


"  'SHALL  i  BE  YOUR  BOY,  EVEN  IF  I'M  NOT  GOING  TO  BE  AN  EARL?' 

SAID  CEDRIC." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  249 

"  Shall  I  be  jour  boy,  even  if  I'm  not  going  to 
be  an  earl  ?"  he  said.  "  Shall  I  be  your  boy,  just 
as  I  was  before  ?  "  And  his  flushed  little  face  was 
all  alight  with  eagerness. 

How  the  old  Earl  did  look  at  him  from  head  to 
foot,  to  be  sure !  How  his  great  shaggy  brows 
did  draw  themselves  together,  and  how  queer- 
ly  his  deep  eyes  shone  under  them  —  how  very 
queerly ! 

"  My  boy ! "  he  said — and,  if  you'll  believe  it, 
his  very  voice  was  queer,  almost  shaky  and  a  lit- 
tle broken  and  hoarse,  not  at  all  what  you  would 
expect  an  Earl's  voice  to  be,  though  he  spoke 
more  decidedly  and  peremptorily  even  than  be- 
fore,— "  Yes,  you'll  be  my  boy  as  long  as  I  live ; 
and,  by  George,  sometimes  I  feel  as  if  you  were 
the  only  boy  I  had  ever  had." 

Cedric's  face  turned  red  to  the  roots  of  his 
hair;  it  turned  red  with  relief  and  pleasure.  He 
put  both  his  hands  deep  into  his  pockets  and 
looked  squarely  into  his  noble  relative's  eyes. 

"  Do  you?  "  he  said.  "  Well,  then,  I  don't  care 
about  the  earl  part  at  all.  I  don't  care  whether 
I'm  an  earl  or  not.  I  thought — you  see,  I  thought 
the  one  that  was  going  to  be  the  Earl  would  have 
to  be  your  boy,  toe,  and  —  and  I  couldn't  be. 
That  was  what  made  me  feel  so  queer." 

The  Earl  put  his  hand  on  his  shoulder  and 
drew  him  nearer. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 


"  They  shall  take  nothing  from  you  that  I  can 
hold  for  you/'  he  said,  drawing  his  breath  hard. 
" 1  won't  believe  yet  that  they  can  take  anything 
from  you.  You  were  made  for  the  place,  and — 
well,  you  may  fill  it  still.  But  whatever  comes, 
you  shall  have  all  that  I  can  give  you — all !  " 

It  scarcely  seem- 
ed  as  if  he  were 
speaking  to  a 
child,  there  was 
such  determina- 
tion in  his  face 
and  voice ;  it  was 
more  as  if  he  were 
making  a  promise 
to  himself  —  and 
perhaps  he  was. 

He  had  never 
before  known  how 
deep  a  hold  upon 
him  his  fondness 
for  the  boy  and  his 
pride  in  him  had  taken.  He  had  never  seen  his 
strength  and  good  qualities  and  beauty  as  he 
seemed  to  see  them  now.  To  his  obstinate  na- 
ture it  seemed  impossible — more  than  impossible 
— to  give  up  what  he  had  so  set  his  heart  upon. 
And  he  had  determined  that  he  would  not  give 
it  up  without  a  fierce  struggle. 


SHE  WAS  TOLD  BY  THE  FOOTMAN  AT 
THE  DOOR  THAT  THE  EARL  WOULD 
NOT  SEE  HER. 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  251 

Within  a  few  days  after  she  had  seen  Mr. 
Havisham,  the  woman  who  claimed  to  be  Lady 
Fauntleroy  presented  herself  at  the  Castle,  and 
brought  her  child  with  her.  She  was  sent  away. 
The  Earl  would  not  see  her,  she  was  told  by  the 
footman  at  the  door ;  his  lawyer  would  attend  to 
her  case.  It  was  Thomas  who  gave  the  message, 
and  who  expressed  his  opinion  of  her  freely  after- 
ward, in  the  servants'  hall.  He  "  hoped,"  he  said, 
"as  he  had  wore  livery  in  'igh  famblies  long 
enough  to  know  a  lady  when  he  see  one,  an*  if 
that  was  a  lady  he  was  no  judge  o'  females." 

"  The  one  at  the  Lodge,"  added  Thomas  loftily, 
"  'Merican  or  no  'Merican,  she's  one  o'  the  right 
sort,  as  any  gentleman  'u'd  reckinize  with  'alf  a 
heye.  I  remarked  it  myself  to  Henery  when  fust 
we  called  there." 

The  woman  drove  away ;  the  look  on  her  hand- 
some, common  face  half  frightened,  half  fierce. 
Mr.  Havisham  had  noticed,  during  his  interviews 
with  her,  that  though  she  had  a  passionate  tem- 
per, and  a  coarse,  insolent  manner,  she  was 
neither  so  clever  nor  so  bold  as  she  meant  to  be  ; 
she  seemed  sometimes  to  be  almost  overwhelmed 
by  the  position  in  which  she  had  placed  herself. 
It  was  as  if  she  had  not  expected  to  meet  with 
such  opposition. 

"  She  is  evidently,"  the  lawyer  said  to  Mrs. 
Enrol,  "a  person  from  the  lower  walks  of  life. 


25 *  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

She  is  uneducated  and  intrained  in  everything, 
and  quite  unused  to  meeting  people  like  our- 
selves  on  any  terms  of  equality.  She  does  not 
know  what  to  do.  Her  visit  to  the  Castle  quite 
cowed  her.  She  was  infuriated,  but  she  was 
cowed.  The  Earl  would  not  receive  her,  but  I 
advised  him  to  go  with  me  to  the  Dorincourt 
Arms,  where  she  is  staying.  When  she  saw  him 
enter  the  room,  she  turned  white,  though  she 
flew  into  a  rage  at  once,  and  threatened  and  de- 
manded in  one  breath." 

The  fact  was  that  the  Earl  had  stalked  into  the 
room  and  stood,  looking  like  a  venerable  aristo- 
cratic giant,  staring  at  the  woman  from  under  his 
beetling  brows,  and  not  condescending  a  word. 
He  simply  stared  at  her,  taking  her  in  from  head 
to  foot  as  if  she  were  some  repulsive  curiosity. 
He  let  her  talk  and  demand  until  she  was  tired, 
without  himself  uttering  a  word,  and  then  he 
said : 

"You  say  you  are  my  eldest  son's  wife.  If 
that  is  true,  and  if  the  proof  you  offer  is  too  much 
for  us,  the  law  is  on  your  side.  In  that  case, 
pour  boy  is  Lord  Fauntleroy.  The  matter  will 
be  sifted  to  the  bottom,  you  may  rest  assured. 
If  your  claims  are  proved,  you  will  be  provided 
for.  I  want  to  see  nothing  of  either  you  or  the 
child  so  long  as  I  live.  The  place  will  unfortu- 
nately have  enough  of  you  after  my  death.  You 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  253 

are  exactly  the  kind  of  person  1  should  have  ex- 
pected  my  son  Bevis  to  choose." 

And  then  he  turned  his  back  upon  her  and 
stalked  out  of  the  room  as  he  had  stalked  into  it. 

Not  many  days  after  that,  a  visitor  was  an- 
nounced to  Mrs.  Errol,  who  was  writing  in  her 
little  morning  room.  The  maid,  who  brought 
the  message,  looked  rather  excited ;  her  eyes 
were  quite  round  with  amazement,  in  fact,  and 
being  young  and  inexperienced,  she  regarded 
her  mistress  with  nervous  sympathy. 

"  It's  the  Earl  hisself,  ma'am !  '*  she  said  in 
tremulous  awe. 

When  Mrs.  Errol  entered  the  drawing-room,  a 
very  tall,  majestic-looking  old  man  was  standing 
on  the  tiger-skin  rug.  He  had  a  handsome,  grim 
old  face,  with  an  aquiline  profile,  a  long  white 
mustache,  and  an  obstinate  look. 

"  Mrs.  Errol,  I  believe  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Mrs.  Errol,"  she  answered. 

"  I  am  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt,"  he  said. 

He  paused  a  moment,  almost  unconsciously,  to 
look  into  her  uplifted  eyes.  They  were  so  like 
the  big,  affectionate,  childish  eyes  he  had  seen 
uplifted  to  his  own  so  often  every  day  during  the 
last  few  months,  that  they  gave  him  a  quite 
curious  sensation. 

"  The  boy  is  very  like  you,"  he  said  abruptly. 

"  It  has  been  often  said  so.  my  lord,"  she  re- 


254  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

plied,  "  but  I  have  been  glad  to  think  him  like  his 
father  also." 

As  Lady  Lorridaile  had  told  him,  her  voice 
was  very  sweet,  and  her  manner  was  very  simple 
and  dignified.  She  did  not  seem  in  the  least 
troubled  by  his  sudden  coming. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Earl,  "  he  is  like — my  son — 
too."  He  put  his  hand  up  to  his  big  white  mus- 
tache and  pulled  it  fiercely.  "  Do  you  know,"  he 
said,  "  why  I  have  come  here  ?  " 

"  I  have  seen  Mr.  Havisham,"  Mrs.  Errol  be- 
gan, "and  he  has  told  me  of  the  claims  which 
have  been  made " 

"  I  have  come  to  tell  you,"  said  the  Earl,  "  that 
they  will  be  investigated  and  contested,  if  a  con- 
test can  be  made.  I  have  come  to  tell  you  that 
the  boy  shall  be  defended  with  all  the  power  of 
the  law.  His  rights " 

The  soft  voice  interrupted  him. 

"  He  must  have  nothing  that  is  not  his  by 
right,  even  if  the  law  can  give  it  to  him,"  she 
said. 

"  Unfortunately  the  law  can  not,"  said  the  Earl. 
"  If  it  could,  it  should.  This  outrageous  woman 
and  her  child " 

"  Perhaps  she  cares  for  him  as  much  as  I  care 
for  Cedric,  my  lord,"  said  little  Mrs.  Errol. 
"  And  if  she  was  your  eldest  son's  wife,  her  son  is 
Lord  Fauntleroy,  and  mine  is  not." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  255 

She  was  no  more  afraid  of  him  than  Cedric  had 
been,  and  she  looked  at  him  just  as  Cedric  would 
have  looked,  and  he,  having  been  an  old  tyrant 
all  his  life,  was  privately  pleased  by  it.  People  so 
seldom  dared  to  differ  from  him  that  there  was 
an  entertaining  novelty  in  it. 

"  I  suppose,"  he  said,  scowling  slightly,  "  that 
you  would  much  prefer  that  he  should  not  be  the 
Earl  of  Dorincourt." 

Her  fair  young  face  flushed. 

"  It  is  a  very  magnificent  thing  to  be  the  Earl 
of  Dorincourt,  my  lord,"  she  said.  "  I  know  that, 
but  I  care  most  that  he  should  be  what  his  father 
was — brave  and  just  and  true  always." 

"In  striking  contrast  to  what  his  grandfather 
was,  eh  ?  "  said  his  lordship  sardonically. 

"  I  have  not  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  his 
grandfather,"  replied  Mrs.  Errol,  "  but  I  know 

my  little  boy  believes "  She  stopped  short  a 

moment,  looking  quietly  into  his  face,  and  then 
she  added,  "  1  know  that  Cedric  loves  you." 

"Would  he  have  loved  me,"  said  the  Earl 
dryly,  "if  you  had  told  him  why  I  did  not  re- 
ceive you  at  the  Castle  ?  " 

"No,"  answered  Mrs.  Errol,  "I  think  not. 
That  was  why  I  did  not  wish  him  to  know." 

"  Well,"  said  my  lord  brusquely,  "  there  are 
few  women  who  would  not  have  told  him." 

He  suddenly  began  to  walk  up  and  down  the 


256  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

room,  pulling  his  great  mustache  more  violently 
than  ever. 

"  Yes,  he  is  fond  of  me,"  he  said,  "  and  I  am 
fond  of  him.  I  can't  say  I  ever  was  fond  of  any- 
thing before.  I  am  fond  of  him.  He  pleased 
me  from  the  first.  I  am  an  old  man,  and  was 
tired  of  my  life.  He  has  given  me  something  to 
live  for.  I  am  proud  of  him.  I  was  satisfied  to 
think  of  his  taking  his  place  some  day  as  the  head 
of  the  family." 

He  came  back  and  stood  before  Mrs.  Errol. 

"  I  am  miserable,"  he  said.    "  Miserable!  " 

He  looked  as  if  he  was.  Even  his  pride  could 
not  keep  his  voice  steady  or  his  hands  from  shak- 
ing. For  a  moment  it  almost  seemed  as  if  his 
deep,  fierce  eyes  had  tears  in  them.  "  Perhaps  it 
is  because  I  am  miserable  that  I  have  come  to 
you,"  he  said,  quite  glaring  down  at  her.  "  I 
used  to  hate  you  ;  I  have  been  jealous  of  you. 
This  wretched,  disgraceful  business  has  changed 
that.  After  seeing  that  repulsive  woman  who 
calls  herself  the  wife  of  my  son  Bevis,  I  actually 
felt  it  would  be  a  relief  to  look  at  you.  I  have 
been  an  obstinate  old  fool,  and  I  suppose  I  have 
treated  you  badly.  You  are  like  the  boy,  and  the 
boy  is  the  first  object  in  my  life.  I  am  miserable, 
and  I  came  to  you  merely  because  you  are  like 
the  boy,  and  he  cares  for  you,  and  I  care  for  him. 
Treat  me  as  well  as  you  can,  for  the  boy's  sake." 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  257 

He  said  it  all  in  his  harsh  voice,  and  almost 
roughly,  but  somehow  he  seemed  so  broken  down 
for  the  time  that  Mrs.  Errol  was  touched  to  the 
heart.  She  got  up  and  moved  an  arm-chair  a 
little  forward. 

"  I  wish  you  would  sit  down,"  she  said  in  a  soft, 
pretty,  sympathetic  way.  "You  have  been  so 
much  troubled  that  you  are  very  tired,  and  you 
need  all  your  strength." 

It  was  just  as  new  to  him  to  be  spoken  to  and 
cared  for  in  that  gentle,  simple  way  as  it  was  to 
be  contradicted.  He  was  reminded  of "  the  boy  " 
again,  and  he  actually  did  as  she  asked  him.  Per- 
haps  his  disappointment  and  wretchedness  were 
good  discipline  for  him;  if  he  had  not  been 
wretched  he  might  have  continued  to  hate  her, 
but  just  at  present  he  found  her  a  little  soothing 
Almost  anything  would  have  seemed  pleasant  by 
contrast  with  Lady  Fauntleroy ;  and  this  one  had 
so  sweet  a  face  and  voice,  and  a  pretty  dignity 
when  she  spoke  or  moved.  Very  soon,  through 
the  quiet  magic  of  these  influences,  he  began  to 
feel  less  gloomy,  and  then  he  talked  still  more. 

"  Whatever  happens,"  he  said,  "  the  boy  shall 
be  provided  for.  He  shall  be  taken  care  of,  now 
and  in  the  future." 

Before  he  went  away,  he  glanced  around  the 
room. 

"  Do  you  like  the  house? "  he  demanded. 


258  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"  Very  much,"  she  answered. 

"  This  is  a  cheerful  room,"  he  said.  "  May  1 
come  here  again  and  talk  this  matter  over?" 

"  As  often  as  you  wish,  my  lord,"  she  replied. 

And  then  he  went  out  to  his  carriage  and  drove 
away,  Thomas  and  Henry  almost  stricken  dumb 
upon  the  box  at  the  turn  affairs  had  taken. 


XIII 

OF  course,  as  soon  as  the  story  of  Lord  Faunt- 
leroy  and  the  difficulties  of  the  Earl  of  Dorin- 
court  were  discussed  in  the  English  newspapers, 
they  were  discussed  in  the  American  newspa- 
pers. 

The  story  was  too  interesting  to  be  passed  over 
lightly,  and  it  was  talked  of  a  great  deal.  There 
were  so  many  versions  of  it  that  it  would  have 
been  an  edifying  thing  to  buy  all  the  papers  and 
compare  them.  Mr.  Hobbs  read  so  much  about 
it  that  he  became  quite  bewildered.  One  paper 
described  his  young  friend  Cedric  as  an  infant  in 
arms, — another  as  a  young  man  at  Oxford,  win- 
ning all  the  honors,  and  distinguishing  himself  by 
writing  Greek  poems;  one  said  he  was  engaged 
to  a  young  lady  of  great  beauty,  who  was  the 
daughter  of  a  duke ;  another  said  he  had  just 
been  married ;  the  only  thing,  in  fact,  which  was 
not  said  was  that  he  was  a  little  boy  between  seven 
and  eight,  with  handsome  legs  and  curly  hair. 
One  said  he  was  no  relation  to  the  Earl  of  Dorin- 
court  at  all,  but  was  a  small  impostor  who  had 
sold  newspapers  and  slept  in  the  streets  of  New 


*6o  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

\Tork  before  his  mother  imposed  upon  the  family 
lawyer,  who  came  to  America  to  look  for  the 
Earl's  heir.  Then  came  the  descriptions  of  the 
new  Lord  Fauntleroy  and  his  mother.  Some- 
times she  was  a  gypsy,  sometimes  an  actress, 
sometimes  a  beautiful  Spaniard ;  but  it  was  al- 
ways agreed  that  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt  was  her 
deadly  enemy,  and  would  not  acknowledge  her 
son  as  his  heir  if  he  could  help  it,  and  as  there 
seemed  to  be  some  slight  flaw  in  the  papers  she 
had  produced,  it  was  expected  that  there  would 
be  a  long  trial,  which  would  be  far  more  interest- 
ing than  anything  ever  carried  into  court  before. 
Mr.  Hobbs  used  to  read  the  papers  until  his  head 
was  in  a  whirl,  and  in  the  evening  he  and  Dick 
would  talk  it  all  over.  They  found  out  what  an 
important  personage  an  Earl  of  Dorincourt  was, 
and  what  a  magnificent  income  he  possessed,  and 
how  many  estates  he  owned,  and  how  stately  and 
beautiful  was  the  Castle  in  which  he  lived ;  and 
the  more  they  learned,  the  more  excited  they  be- 
came. 

"  Seems  like  somethin*  orter  be  done,"  said  Mr. 
Hobbs.  "Things  like  them  orter  be  held  on  to 
— earls  or  no  earls." 

But  there  really  was  nothing  they  could  do  but 
each  write  a  letter  to  Cedric,  containing  assur- 
ances of  their  friendship  and  sympathy.  They 
wrote  those  letters  as  soon  as  they  could  after  re- 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  261 

ceiving  the  news ;  and  having  written  them,  they 
handed  them  over  to  each  other  to  be  read. 
This  is  what  Mr.  Hobbs  read  in  Dick's  letter: 

"  DERE  FREND  :  i  got  ure  letter  an  Mr.  Hobbs  got  his  an  we 
are  sory  u  are  down  on  ure  luck  an  we  say  hold  on  as  longs  u 
kin  an  dont  let  no  one  git  ahed  of  u.  There  is  a  lot  of  ole 
theves  wil  make  al  they  kin  of  u  ef  u  dont  kepe  ure  i  skined. 
But  this  is  mosly  to  say  that  ive  not  forgot  wot  u  did  fur  me  an 
if  there  aint  no  better  way  cum  over  here  an  go  in  pardners  with 
me.  Biznes  is  fine  an  ile  see  no  harm  cums  to  u.  Enny  big 
feler  that  trise  to  cum  it  over  u  wil  hafter  setle  it  fust  with  Per- 
fessor  Dick  Tipton  So  no  more  at  present 

"DICK." 

And  this  was  what  Dick  read  in  Mr.  Hobbs's 
letter : 

44  DEAR  SIR  :  Yrs  received  and  wd  say  things  looks  bad.  I 
believe  its  a  put  up  job  and  them  thats  done  it  ought  to  be 
looked  after  sharp.  And  what  I  write  to  say  is  two  things.  Im 
going  to  look  this  thing  up.  Keep  quiet  and  111  see  a  lawyer 
and  do  all  I  can  And  if  the  worst  happens  and  them  earls  is 
too  many  for  us  theres  a  partnership  in  the  grocery  business 
ready  for  you  when  yure  old  enough  and  a  home  and  a  friend  in 

44  Yrs  truly, 

*4  SILAS  HOBBS." 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Hobbs,  "he's  pervided  for 
between  us,  if  he  ain't  a  earl." 

"  So  he  is,"  said  Dick.  "  I'd  ha*  stood  by  him. 
Blest  if  I  didn't  like  that  little  feller  fust-rate." 


262  Little  Lord  FauntUroy 

The  very  next  morning,  one  of  Dick's  custom, 
ers  was  rather  surprised.  He  was  a  young  law- 
yer just  beginning  practice — as  poor  as  a  very 
young  lawyer  can  possibly  be,  but  a  bright,  ener- 
getic young  fellow,  with  sharp  wit  and  a  good 
temper.  He  had  a  shabby  office  near  Dick's 
stand,  and  every  morning  Dick  blacked  his  boots 
for  him,  and  quite  often  they  were  not  exactly 
water-tight,  but  he  always  had  a  friendly  word  or 
a  joke  for  Dick. 

That  particular  morning,  when  he  put  his  foot 
on  the  rest,  he  had  an  illustrated  paper  in  his 
hand — an  enterprising  paper,  with  pictures  in  it 
of  conspicuous  people  and  things.  He  had  just 
finished  looking  it  over,  and  when  the  last 
boot  was  polished,  he  handed  it  over  to  the 
boy. 

"  Here's  a  paper  for  you,  Dick,"  he  said ;  "  you 
can  look  it  over  when  you  drop  in  at  Delmoni- 
co's  for  your  breakfast.  Picture  of  an  English 
castle  in  it,  and  an  English  earl's  daughter-in-law. 
Fine  young  woman,  too, — lots  of  hair, — though 
she  seems  to  be  raising  rather  a  row.  You  ought 
to  become  familiar  with  the  nobility  and  gentry, 
Dick.  Begin  on  the  Right  Honorable  the  Earl 
of  Dorincourt  and  Lady  Fauntleroy.  Hello?  I 
say,  what's  the  matter?  " 

The  pictures  he  spoke  of  were  on  the  front 
page,  and  Dick  was  staring  at  one  of  them  with 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  263 

his  eyes  and  mouth  open,  and  his  sharp  face  al- 
most pale  with  excitement. 

"  What's  to  pay,  Dick  ?  "  said  the  young  man. 
"  What  has  paralyzed  you  ?  " 

Dick  really  did  look  as  if  something  tremendous 
had  happened.  He  pointed  to  the  picture,  under 
which  was  written: 

"  Mother  of  Claimant  (Lady  Fauntleroy)." 

It  was  the  picture  of  a  handsome  woman,  with 
large  eyes  and  heavy  braids  of  black  hair  wound 
around  her  head. 

"  Her ! "  said  Dick.  "  My,  I  know  her  better'n 
I  know  you ! " 

The  young  man  began  to  laugh. 

"  Where  did  you  meet  her,  Dick  ? "  he  said. 
"  At  Newport  ?  Or  when  you  ran  over  to  Paris 
the  last  time  ?  " 

Dick  actually  forgot  to  grin.  He  began  to 
gather  his  brushes  and  things  together,  as  if  he 
had  something  to  do  which  would  put  an  end  to 
his  business  for  the  present. 

"  Never  mind,"  he  said.  "  I  know  her !  An* 
I've  struck  work  for  this  mornin'." 

And  in  less  than  five  minutes  from  that  time  he 
was  tearing  through  the  streets  on  his  way  to 
Mr.  Hobbs  and  the  corner  store.  Mr.  Hobbs 
could  scarcely  believe  the  evidence  of  his  senses 
when  he  looked  across  the  counter  and  saw  Dick 
rush  in  with  the  paper  in  his  hand.  The  boy 


264  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

was  out  of  breath  with  running ;  so  much  out  of 
breath,  in  fact,  that  he  could  scarcely  speak  as  he 
threw  the  paper  down  on  the  counter. 

«  Hello ! "  exclaimed  Mr.  Hobbs.  "  Hello !  What 
you  got  there  ?  " 

"Look  at  it! "panted  Dick.  "Look  at  that 
woman  in  the  picture  !  That's  what  you  look  at ! 
She  ain't  no  Aristocrat,  she  ain't ! "  with  withering 
scorn.  "  She's  no  lord's  wife.  You  may  eat  me, 
if  it  ain't  Minna — Minna !  I'd  know  her  any- 
wheres, an*  so'd  Ben.  Jest  ax  him." 

Mr.  Hobbs  dropped  into  his  seat. 

"  I  knowed  it  was  a  put-up  job,"  he  said.  "  I 
knowed  it ;  and  they  done  it  on  account  o'  him 
bein'  a  'Merican  ! " 

"  Done  it !  "  cried  Dick,  with  disgust.  "  She  done 
it,  that's  who  done  it.  She  was  allers  up  to  her 
tricks  ;  an*  I'll  tell  yer  wot  come  to  me,  the  minnit 
I  saw  her  pictur.  There  was  one  o'  them  papers 
we  saw  had  a  letter  in  it  that  said  somethin'  'bout 
her  boy,  an'  it  said  he  had  a  scar  on  his  chin.  Put 
them  two  together — her'n  that  there  scar !  Why, 
that  there  boy  o'  hers  ain't  no  more  a  lord  than  I 
am !  It's  Bens  boy, — the  little  chap  she  hit  when 
she  let  fly  that  plate  at  me." 

Professor  Dick  Tipton  had  always  been  a  sharp 
boy,  and  earning  his  living  in  the  streets  of  a  big 
city  had  made  him  still  sharper.  He  had  learned 
to  keep  his  eyes  open  and  his  wits  about  him,  and 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  265 

it  must  be  confessed  he  enjoyed  immensely  the 
excitement  and  impatience  of  that  moment.  If 
little  Lord  Fauntleroy  could  only  have  looked 
into  the  store  that  morning,  he  would  certainly 
have  been  interested,  even  if  all  the  discussion  and 
plans  had  been  intended  to  decide  the  fate  of 
some  other  boy  than  himself. 

Mr.  Hobbs  was  almost  overwhelmed  by  his 
sense  of  responsibility,  and  Dick  was  all  alive  and 
full  of  energy.  He  began  to  write  a  letter  to 
Ben,  and  he  cut  out  the  picture  and  inclosed 
it  to  him,  and  Mr.  Hobbs  wrote  a  letter  to  Cedric 
and  one  to  the  Earl.  They  were  in  the  midst 
of  this  letter-writing  when  a  new  idea  came  to 
Dick. 

"  Say,"  he  said,  "  the  feller  that  give  me  the 
paper,  he's  a  lawyer.  Let's  ax  him  what  we'd 
better  do.  Lawyers  knows  it  all." 

Mr.  Hobbs  was  immensely  impressed  by  this 
suggestion  and  Dick's  business  capacity. 

"  That's  so ! "  he  replied.  "  This  here  calls  for 
lawyers." 

And  leaving  the  store  in  the  care  of  a  substi- 
tute, he  struggled  into  his  coat  and  marched 
down-town  with  Dick,  and  the  two  presented 
themselves  with  their  romantic  story  in  Mr. 
Harrison's  office,  much  to  that  young  man's  as- 
tonishment. 

If  he  had  not  been  a  very  young  lawyer,  with  a 


266  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

very  enterprising  mind  and  a  great  deal  of  spare 
time  on  his  hands,  he  might  not  have  been  so 
readily  interested  in  what  they  had  to  say,  for  it 
all  certainly  sounded  very  wild  and  queer;  but 
he  chanced  to  want  something  to  do  very  much, 
and  he  chanced  to  know  Dick,  and  Dick  chanced 
to  say  his  say  in  a  very  sharp,  telling  sort  of 
way. 

"  And,"  said  Mr.  Hobbs,  "  say  what  your  time's 
worth  a*  hour  and  look  into  this  thing  thorough, 
and  Pll  pay  the  damage,  —  Silas  Hobbs,  corner 
of  Blank  street,  Vegetables  and  Fancy  Grocer- 
ies." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Harrison,  "  it  will  be  a  big 
thing  if  it  turns  out  all  right,  and  it  will  be  almost 
as  big  a  thing  for  me  as  for  Lord  Fauntleroy; 
and,  at  any  rate,  no  harm  can  be  done  by  in- 
vestigating. It  appears  there  has  been  some 
dubiousness  about  the  child.  The  woman  con- 
tradicted herself  in  some  of  her  statements  about 
his  age,  and  aroused  suspicion.  The  first  persons 
to  be  written  to  are  Dick's  brother  and  the  Earl 
of  Dorincourt's  family  lawyer." 

And  actually,  before  the  sun  went  down,  two 
letters  had  been  written  and  sent  in  two  different 
directions — one  speeding  out  of  New  York  harbor 
on  a  mail  steamer  en  its  way  to  England,  and  the 
other  on  a  train  carrying  letters  and  passengers 
bound  for  California.  And  the  first  was  addressed 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  267 

to  T.  Havisham,  Esq.,  and  the  second  to  Benjamin 
Tipton. 

And  after  the  store  was  closed  that  evening-, 
Mr.  Hobbs  and  Dick  sat  in  the  back-room  and 
talked  together  until  midnight 


XIV 

IT  is  astonishing  how  short  a  time  it  takes  for 
very  wonderful  things  to  happen.  It  had  taken 
only  a  few  minutes,  apparently,  to  change  all  the 
fortunes  of  the  little  boy  dangling  his  red  legs 
from  the  high  stool  in  Mr.  Hobbs's  store,  and  to 
transform  him  from  a  small  boy,  living  the  sim- 
plest life  in  a  quiet  street,  into  an  English  noble- 
man,  the  heir  to  an  earldom  and  magnificent 
wealth.  It  had  taken  only  a  few  minutes,  appar* 
ently,  to  change  him  from  an  English  nobleman 
into  a  penniless  little  impostor,  with  no  right  to 
any  of  the  splendors  he  had  been  enjoying.  And, 
surprising  as  it  may  appear,  it  did  not  take  nearly 
so  long  a  time  as  one  might  have  expected,  to  al- 
ter the  face  of  everything  again  and  to  give  back 
to  him  all  that  he  had  been  in  danger  of  losing. 

It  took  the  less  time  because,  after  all,  the 
woman  who  had  called  herself  Lady  Fauntleroy 
was  not  nearly  so  clever  as  she  was  wicked  ;  and 
when  she  had  been  closely  pressed  by  Mr.  Hav- 
isham's  questions  about  her  marriage  and  her 
boy,  she  had  made  one  or  two  blunders  which 
had  caused  suspicion  to  be  awakened ;  and  then 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  269 

she  had  lost  her  presence  of  mind  and  her  temper, 
and  in  her  excitement  and  anger  had  betrayed 
herself  still  further.  All  the  mistakes  she  made 
were  about  her  child.  There  seemed  no  doubt 
that  she  had  been  married  to  Bevis,  Lord  Faunt- 
leroy, and  had  quarrelled  with  him  and  had  been 
paid  to  keep  away  from  him ;  but  Mr.  Havisham 
found  out  that  her  story  of  the  boy's  being  born 
in  a  certain  part  of  London  was  false ;  and  just 
when  they  all  were  in  the  midst  of  the  commo- 
tion caused  by  this  discovery,  there  came  the  let- 
ter from  the  young  lawyer  in  New  York,  and  Mr. 
Hobbs's  letters  also. 

What  an  evening  it  was  when  those  letters  ar- 
rived, and  when  Mr.  Havisham  and  the  Earl  sat 
and  talked  their  plans  over  in  the  library ! 

"  After  my  first  three  meetings  with  her,"  said 
Mr.  Havisham,  "  I  began  to  suspect  her  strongly. 
It  appeared  to  me  that  the  child  was  older  than 
she  said  he  was,  and  she  made  a  slip  in  speaking 
of  the  date  of  his  birth  and  then. tried  to  patch 
the  matter  up.  The  story  these  letters  bring  fits 
in  with  several  of  my  suspicions.  Our  best  plan 
will  be  to  cable  at  once  for  these  two  Tiptons, — 
say  nothing  about  them  to  her,  —  and  suddenly 
confront  her  with  them  when  she  is  not  expecting 
it.  She  is  only  a  very  clumsy  plotter,  after  all. 
My  opinion  is  that  she  will  be  frightened  out  of 
her  wits,  and  will  betray  herself  on  the  spot." 


270  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

And  that  was  what  actually  happened.  She 
was  told  nothing,  and  Mr.  Havisham  kept  her 
from  suspecting  anything  by  continuing  to  have 
interviews  with  her,  in  which  he  assured  her  he 
was  investigating  her  statements;  and  she  really 
began  to  feel  so  secure  that  her  spirits  rose  im- 
mensely and  she  began  +o  be  as  insolent  as  might 
have  been  expected. 

But  one  fine  morning,  as  she  sat  in  her  sitting- 
room  at  the  inn  called  "  The  Dorincourt  Arms," 
making  some  very  fine  plans  for  herself,  Mr.  Hav- 
isham was  announced ;  and  when  he  entered,  he 
was  followed  by  no  less  than  three  persons — one 
was  a  sharp-faced  boy  and  one  was  a  big  young 
man  and  the  third  was  the  Earl  of  Dorincourt. 

She  sprang  to  her  feet  and  actually  uttered  a 
cry  of  terror.  It  broke  from  her  before  she  had 
time  to  check  it.  She  had  thought  of  these  new- 
comers as  being  thousands  of  miles  away,  when 
she  had  ever  thought  of  them  at  all,  which  she 
had  scarcely  done  for  years.  She  had  never  ex- 
pected to  see  them  again.  It  must  be  confessed 
that  Dick  grinned  a  little  when  he  saw  her.  ' 

"Hello,  Minna!"  he  said. 

The  big  young  man — who  was  Ben — stood  still 
a  minute  and  looked  at  her. 

"Do  you  know  her?"  Mr.  Havisham  asked, 
glancing  from  one  to  the  other. 

"  Yes/*  said  Ben.    "  I  know  her  and  she  knows 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  371 

me  '  And  he  turned  his  back  on  her  and  went 
and  stood  looking  out  of  the  window,  as  if  the 
sight  of  her  was  hateful  to  him,  as  indeed  it  was. 
Then  the  woman,  seeing  herself  so  baffled  and  ex- 
posed,  lost  all  control  over  herself  and  flew  into 
such  a  rage  as  Ben  and  Dick  had  often  seen  her  in 
before.  Dick  grinned  a  trifle  more  as  he  watched 
her  and  heard  the  names  she  called  them  all  and 
the  violent  threats  she  made,  but  Ben  did  not 
turn  to  look  at  her. 

"  I  can  swear  to  her  in  any  court,"  he  said  to 
Mr.  Havisham,  "  and  I  can  bring  a  dozen  others 
who  will.  Her  father  is  a  respectable  sort  of 
man,  though  he's  low  down  in  the  world.  Her 
mother  was  just  like  herself.  She's  dead,  but  he's 
alive,  and  he's  honest  enough  to  be  ashamed  of 
her.  He'll  tell  you  who  she  is,  and  whether  she 
married  me  or  not." 

Then  he  clenched  his  hand  suddenly  and  turned 
on  her. 

"  Where's  the  child  ? "  he  demanded.  "  He's 
going  with  me !  He  is  done  with  you,  and  so 
am  I!" 

And  just  as  he  finished  saying  the  words,  the 
door  leading  into  the  bedroom  opened  a  little,  and 
the  boy,  probably  attracted  by  the  sound  of  the 
loud  voices,  looked  in.  He  was  not  a  handsome 
boy,  but  he  had  rather  a  nice  face,  and  he  was 
quite  like  Ben,  his  father,  as  any  one  could  sec, 


272  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

and  there   was  the  three-cornered   scar  on  his 
chin. 

Ben  walked  up  to  him  and  took  his  hand,  and 
his  own  was  trembling. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  I  could  swear  to  him,  too. 
Tom,"  he  said  to  the  little  fellow,  "  I'm  your  fa- 
ther ;  I've  come  to  take  you  away.  Where's  your 
hat?  " 

The  boy  pointed  to  where  it  lay  on  a  chair.  It 
evidently  rather  pleased  him  to  hear  that  he  was 
going  away.  He  had  been  so  accustomed  to 
queer  experiences  that  it  did  not  surprise  him  to 
be  told  by  a  stranger  that  he  was  his  father.  He 
objected  so  much  to  the  woman  who  had  come 
a  few  months  before  to  the  place  where  he  had 
lived  since  his  babyhood,  and  who  had  suddenly 
announced  that  she  was  his  mother,  that  he  was 
quite  ready  for  a  change.  Ben  took  up  the  hat 
and  marched  to  the  door. 

"  If  you  want  me  again,"  he  said  to  Mr.  Hav- 
isham,  "  you  know  where  to  find  me." 

He  walked  out  of  the  room,  holding  the  child's 
hand  and  not  looking  at  the  woman  once.  She 
was  fairly  raving  with  fury,  and  the  Earl  was 
calmly  gazing  at  her  through  his  eyeglasses, 
which  he  had  quietly  placed  upon  his  aristocratic, 
eagle  nose. 

"Come,  come,  my  young  woman,"  said  Mr. 
Havisham.  "  This  won't  do  at  all.  If  you  don't 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  273 

want  to  be  locked  up,  you  really  must  behave 
yourself." 

And  there  was  something  so  very  business-like 
in  his  tones  that,  probably  feeling  that  the  safest 
thing  she  could  do  would  be  to  get  out  of  the 
way,  she  gave  him  one  savage  look  and  dashed 
past  him  into  the  next  room  and  slammed  the 
door. 

"  We  shall  have  no  more  trouble  with  her," 
said  Mr.  Havisham. 

And  he  was  right ;  for  that  very  night  she  left 
the  Dorincourt  Arms  and  took  the  train  to  Lon- 
don, and  was  seen  no  more. 

»..'"•»•  :4fr.-  .<.*.'* ...-»'*.••• 

When  the  Earl  left  the  room  after  the  inter- 
view, he  went  at  once  to  his  carriage. 

"  To  Court  Lodge,"  he  said  to  Thomas. 

"  To  Court  Lodge,"  said  Thomas  to  the  coach- 
man as  he  mounted  the  box;  "an*  you  may  de- 
pend on  it,  things  are  taking  a  uniggspected 
turn." 

When  the  carriage  stopped  at  Court  Lodge, 
Cedric  was  in  the  drawing-room  with  his  mother. 

The  Earl  came  in  without  being  announced. 
He  looked  an  inch  or  so  taller,  and  a  great  many 
years  younger.  His  deep  eyes  flashed. 

"  Where,"  he  said,  "  is  Lord  Fauntleroy  ?  " 

Mrs.  Errol  came  forward,  a  flush  rising  to  her 
cheek. 

Rl 


274  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"Is  it  Lord  Fauntleroy?"  she  asked.  "Is  it, 
indeed ! " 

The  Earl  put  out  his  hand  and  grasped  hers. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered,  "  it  is." 

Then  he  put  his  other  hand  on  Cedric's  shoul- 
der. 

"  Fauntleroy,"  he  said  in  his  unceremonious, 
authoritative  way,  "ask  your  mother  when  she 
will  come  to  us  at  the  castle." 

Fauntleroy  flung  his  arms  around  his  mother's 
neck. 

"  To  live  with  us ! "  he  cried.  "  To  live  with 
us  always ! " 

The  Earl  looked  at  Mrs.  Errol,  and  Mrs.  Errol 
looked  at  the  Earl.  His  lordship  was  entirely  in 
earnest.  He  had  made  up  his  mind  to  waste  no 
time  in  arranging  this  matter.  He  had  begun  to 
think  it  would  suit  him  to  make  friends  with  his 
heir's  mother. 

"  Are  you  quite  sure  you  want  me?"  said  Mrs. 
Errol,  with  her  soft,  pretty  smile. 

"  Quite  sure,"  he  said  bluntly.  "  We  have  al- 
ways wanted  you,  but  we  were  not  exactly  aware 
of  it.  We  hope  you  will  come." 


XV 

BEN  took  his  boy  and  went  back  to  his  cattle 
ranch  in  California,  and  he  returned  under  very 
comfortable  circumstances.  Just  before  his  go- 
ing,  Mr.  Havisham  had  an  interview  with  him  in 
which  the  lawyer  told  him  that  the  Earl  of  Dorm- 
court  wished  to  do  something  for  the  boy  who 
might  have  turned  out  to  be  Lord  Fauntleroy, 
and  so  he  had  decided  that  it  would  be  a  good 
plan  to  invest  in  a  cattle  ranch  of  his  own,  and 
put  Ben  in  charge  of  it  on  terms  which  would 
make  it  pay  him  very  well,  and  which  would  lay 
a  foundation  for  his  son's  future.  And  so  when 
Ben  went  away,  he  went  as  the  prospective  mas- 
ter of  a  ranch  which  would  be  almost  as  good  as 
his  own,  and  might  easily  become  his  own  in 
time,  as  indeed  it  did  in  the  course  of  a  few  years ; 
and  Tom,  the  boy,  grew  up  on  it  into  a  fine  young 
man  and  was  devotedly  fond  of  his  father;  and 
they  were  so  successful  and  happy  that  Ben  used 
to  say  that  Tom  made  up  to  him  for  all  the 
troubles  he  had  ever  had. 

But  Dick  and  Mr.  Hobbs — who  had  actually 
come  over  with  the  others  to  see  that  things  were 


78  Little  Lord  Fauntleruy 

properly  looked  after — did  not  return  for  some 
time.  It  had  been  decided  at  the  outset  that 
the  Earl  would  provide  for  Dick,  and  would 
see  that  he  received  a  solid  education;  and  Mr. 
Hobbs  had  decided  that  as  he  himself  had  left 
a  reliable  substitute  in  charge  of  his  store,  he 
could  afford  to  wait  to  see  the  festivities  which 
were  to  celebrate  Lord  Fauntleroy 's  eighth  birth- 
day. All  the  tenantry  were  invited,  and  there 
were  to  be  feasting  and  dancing  and  games 
in  the  park,  and  bon-iires  and  fire-works  in  the 
evening. 

"Just  like  the  Fourth  of  July!"  said  Lord 
Fauntleroy.  "  It  seems  a  pity  my  birthday  wasn't 
on  the  Fourth,  doesn't  it?  For  then  we  could 
keep  them  both  together." 

It  must  be  confessed  that  at  first  the  Earl  and 
Mr.  Hobbs  were  not  as  intimate  as  it  might  have 
been  hoped  they  would  become,  in  the  interests 
of  the  British  aristocracy.  The  fact  was  that  the 
Earl  had  known  very  few  grocery-men,  and  Mr. 
Hobbs  had  not  had  many  very  close  acquaint- 
ances who  were  earls ;  and  so  in  their  rare  inter- 
views conversation  did  not  flourish.  It  must  also 
be  owned  that  Mr.  Hobbs  had  been  rather  over- 
whelmed by  the  splendors  Fauntleroy  felt  it  his 
duty  to  show  him. 

The  entrance  gate  and  the  stone  lions  and  the 
avenue  impressed  Mr.  Hobbs  somewhat  at  the 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 


279 


beginning,  and  when  he  saw  the  castle,  and  the 
flower-gardens,  and  the  hot-houses,  and  the  ter- 
races, and  the  peacocks,  and  the  dungeon,  and 
the  armor,  and  the  great  staircase,  and  the 

stables,  and  the 
liveried  s  e  r- 
vants,  he  really 
was  quite  be- 
wildered. But 
it  was  the  pic- 
ture gallery 
which  seemed 
to  be  the  fin- 
ishing stroke. 

"  Somethin* 
in  the  manner 
of  a  museum  ?  " 
he  said  to 
Fauntleroy, 
when  he  was 
led  into  the 
great,  beautiful 
room. 

«N— no— !" 
said      Fauntle- 
roy, rather 
doubtfully.    "  I  don't  think  it's  a  museum.     My 
grandfather  says  these  are  my  ancestors,"" 
"Your  aunt's  sisters!"  ejaculated  Mr.  Hobbs. 


MY  GRANDFATHER  SAYS  THESE  ARE  MY 
ANCESTORS,"  SAID  FAUNTLEROY.0 


280  Little  Lord  Fauntfaroy 

"All  of  'em?  Your  great-uncle,  he  must  have 
had  a  family !  Did  he  raise  'em  all?  " 

And  he  sank  into  a  seat  and  looked  around  him 
with  quite  an  agitated  countenance,  until  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  Lord  Fauntleroy  managed 
to  explain  that  the  walls  were  not  lined  entirely 
with  the  portraits  of  the  progeny  of  his  great- 
uncle. 

He  found  it  necessary,  in  fact,  to  call  in  the  as- 
sistance  of  Mrs.  Mellon,  who  knew  all  about  the 
pictures,  and  could  tell  who  painted  them  and 
when,  and  who  added  romantic  stories  of  the 
lords  and  ladies  who  were  the  originals.  When 
Mr.  Hobbs  once  understood,  and  had  heard 
some  of  these  stories,  he  was  very  much  fascin- 
ated and  liked  the  picture  gallery  almost  better 
than  anything  else;  and  he  would  often  walk 
over  from  the  village,  where  he  stayed  at  the 
Dorincourt  Arms,  and  would  spend  half  an  hour 
or  so  wandering  about  the  gallery,  staring  at 
the  painted  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  also  stared 
at  him,  and  shaking  his  head  nearly  all  the 
time. 

"And  they  was  all  earls!"  he  would  say,  "er 
pretty  nigh  it!  An*  his  goin'  to  be  one  of  'em, 
an*  own  it  all!" 

Privately  he  was  not  nearly  so  much  disgusted 
with  earls  and  their  mode  of  life  as  he  had  ex- 
pected to  be,  and  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  his 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy .  281 

strictly  republican  principles  were  not  shaken  a 
little  by  a  closer  acquaintance  with  castles  and 
ancestors  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  At  any  rate,  one 
day  he  uttered  a  very  remarkable  and  unexpected 
sentiment : 

"  I  wouldn't  have  minded  bein'  one  of  'em  my. 
self ! "  he  said — which  was  really  a  great  conces- 
sion. 

What  a  grand  day  it  was  when  little  Lord 
Fauntleroy 's  birthday  arrived,  and  how  his  young 
lordship  enjoyed  it!  How  beautiful  the  park 
looked,  filled  with  the  thronging  people  dressed 
in  their  gayest  and  best,  and  with  the  flags  flying 
from  the  tents  and  the  top  of  the  castle !  Nobody 
had  stayed  away  who  could  possibly  come,  be- 
cause  everybody  was  really  glad  that  little  Lord 
Fauntleroy  was  to  be  little  Lord  Fauntleroy  still, 
and  some  day  was  to  be  the  master  of  everything. 
Every  one  wanted  to  have  a  look  at  him,  and  at 
his  pretty,  kind  mother,  who  had  made  so  many 
friends.  And  positively  every  one  liked  the  Earl 
rather  better,  and  felt  more  amiably  toward  him 
because  the  little  boy  loved  and  trusted  him  so, 
and  because,  also,  he  had  now  made  friends  with 
and  behaved  respectfully  to  his  heir's  mother.  It 
was  said  that  he  was  even  beginning  to  be  fond 
of  her,  too,  and  that  between  his  young  lordship 
and  his  young  lordship's  mother,  the  Earl  might 
be  changed  in  time  into  quite  a  well-behaved  old 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

nobleman,  and  everybody  might  be  happier  and 
better  off. 

What  scores  and  scores  of  people  there  were 
under  the  trees,  and  in  the  tents,  and  on  the 
lawns!  Farmers  and  farmers'  wives  in  their 
Sunday  suits  and  bonnets  and  shawls ;  girls  and 
their  sweethearts ;  children  frolicking  and  chasing 
about ;  and  old  dames  in  red  cloaks  gossiping  to- 
gether. At  the  castle,  there  were  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen who  had  come  to  see  the  fun,  and  to  con- 
gratulate the  Earl,  and  to  meet  Mrs.  Errol.  Lady 
Lorridaile  and  Sir  Harry  were  there,  and  Sir 
Thomas  Asshe  and  his  daughters,  and  Mr.  Havi- 
sham,  of  course,  and  then  beautiful  Miss  Vivian 
Herbert,  with  the  loveliest  white  gown  and  lace 
parasol,  and  a  circle  of  gentlemen  to  take  care  of 
her — though  she  evidently  liked  Fauntleroy  better 
than  all  of  them  put  together.  And  when  he  saw 
her  and  ran  to  her  and  put  his  arm  around  her 
neck,  she  put  her  arms  around  him,  too,  and  kissed 
him  as  warmly  as  if  he  had  been  her  own  favorite 
little  brother,  and  she  said  : 

"  Dear  little  Lord  Fauntleroy !  dear  little  boy ! 
I  am  so  glad !  I  am  so  glad ! " 

And  afterward  she  walked  about  the  grounds 
with  him,  and  let  him  show  her  everything.  And 
when  he  took  her  to  where  Mr.  Hobbs  and  Dick 
were,  and  said  to  her,  "  This  is  my  old,  old  friend 
Mr.  Hobbs,  Miss  Herbert,  and  this  is  my  other 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  283 

old  friend  Dick.  I  told  them  how  pretty  you 
were,  and  I  told  them  they  should  see  you  if  you 
came  to  my  birthday," — she  shook  hands  with 
them  both,  and  stood  and  talked  to  them  in  her 
prettiest  way,  asking  them  about  America  and 
their  voyage  and  their  life  since  they  had  been  in 
England  ;  while  Fauntleroy  stood  by,  looking  up 
at  her  with  adoring  eyes,  and  his  cheeks  quite 
flushed  with  delight  because  he  saw  that  Mr. 
Hobbs  and  Dick  liked  her  so  much. 

"  Well,"  said  Dick  solemnly,  afterward,  "  she's 
the  daisiest  gal  I  ever  saw !  She's — well,  she's 
just  a  daisy,  that's  what  she  is,  'n'  no  mistake ! " 

Everybody  looked  after  her  as  she  passed,  and 
every  one  looked  after  little  Lord  Fauntleroy. 
And  the  sun  shone  and  the  flags  fluttered  and  the 
games  were  played  and  the  dances  danced,  and 
as  the  gayeties  went  on  and  the  joyous  afternoon 
passed,  his  little  lordship  was  simply  radiantly 
happy. 

The  whole  world  seemed  beautful  to  him. 

There  was  some  one  else  who  was  happy,  too— 
an  old  man,  who,  though  he  had  been  rich  and 
noble  all  his  life,  had  not  often  been  very  honestly 
happy.  Perhaps,  indeed,  I  shall  tell  you  that  I 
think  it  was  because  he  was  rather  better  than  he 
had  been  that  he  was  rather  happier.  He  had 
not,  indeed,  suddenly  become  as  good  as  Faunt- 
leroy thought  him;  but,  at  least,  he  had  begun  to 


284  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

love  something,  and  he  had  several  times  found  «* 
sort  of  pleasure  in  doing  the  kind  things  which 
the  innocent,  kind  little  heart  of  a  child  had  sug- 
gested,— and  that  was  a  beginning.  And  every 
day  he  had  been  more  pleased  with  his  son's  wife. 
It  was  true,  as  the  people  said,  that  he  was  be- 
ginning to  like  her  too.  He  liked  to  hear  her 
sweet  voice  and  to  see  her  sweet  face ;  and  as  he 
sat  in  his  arm-chair,  he  used  to  watch  her  and  lis- 
ten as  she  talked  to  her  boy ;  and  he  heard  loving, 
gentle  words  which  were  new  to  him,  and  he  be- 
gan to  see  why  the  little  fellow  who  had  lived  in 
a  New  York  side  street  and  known  grocery-men 
and  made  friends  with  boot-blacks,  was  still  so 
well-bred  and  manly  a  little  fellow  that  he  made 
no  one  ashamed  of  him,  even  when  fortune 
changed  him  into  the  heir  to  an  English  earldom, 
living  in  an  English  castle. 

It  was  really  a  very  simple  thing,  after  all, — it 
was  only  that  he  had  lived  near  a  kind  and  gen- 
tle heart,  and  had  been  taught  to  think  kind 
thoughts  always  and  to  care  for  others.  It  is  a 
very  little  thing,  perhaps,  but  it  is  the  best  thing 
of  all.  He  knew  nothing  of  earls  and  castles  ;  he 
was  quite  ignorant  of  all  grand  and  splendid 
things ;  but  he  was  always  lovable  because  he 
was  simple  and  loving.  To  be  so  is  like  being 
born  a  king. 

As  the  old  Earl  of  Dorincourt  looked  at  him 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  285 

that  day,  moving  about  the  park  among  the  peo- 
ple, talking  to  those  he  knew  and  making  his  ready 
little  bow  when  any  one  greeted  him,  entertaining 
his  friends  Dick  and  Mr.  Hobbs,  or  standing  near 
his  mother  or  Miss  Herbert  listening  to  their 
conversation,  the  old  nobleman  was  very  well 
satisfied  with  him.  And  he  had  never  been  bet- 
ter satisfied  than  he  was  when  they  went  down 
to  the  biggest  tent,  where  the  more  important 
tenants  of  the  Dorincourt  estate  were  sitting 
down  to  the  grand  collation  of  the  day. 

They  were  drinking  toasts  ;  and,  after  they  had 
drunk  the  health  of  the  Earl,  with  much  more 
enthusiasm  than  his  name  had  ever  been  greeted 
with  before,  they  proposed  the  health  of  "  Little 
Lord  Fauntleroy."  And  if  there  had  ever  been 
any  doubt  at  all  as  to  whether  his  lordship  was 
popular  or  not,  it  would  have  been  settled  that 
instant.  Such  a  clamor  of  voices,  and  such  a 
rattle  of  glasses  and  applause  !  They  had  begun 
to  like  him  so  much,  those  warm-hearted  people, 
that  they  forgot  to  feel  any  restraint  before  the 
ladies  and  gentlemen  from  the  castle,  who  had 
come  to  see  them.  They  made  quite  a  decent 
uproar,  and  one  or  two  motherly  women  looked 
tenderly  at  the  little  fellow  where  he  stood,  with 
his  mother  on  one  side  and  the  Earl  on  the  other, 
and  grew  quite  moist  about  the  eyes,  and  said  to 
one  another: 


286  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

"  God  bless  him,  the  pretty  little  dear ! " 

Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  was  delighted.  He 
stood  and  smiled,  and  made  bows,  and  flushed 
rosy  red  with  pleasure  up  to  the  roots  of  his 
bright  hair. 

"  Is  it  because  they  like  me,  Dearest  ? "  he 
said  to  his  mother.  "  Is  it,  Dearest  ?  I'm  so 
glad!" 

And  then  the  Earl  put  his  hand  on  the  child's 
shoulder  and  said  to  him  : 

"  Fauntleroy,  say  to  them  that  you  thank  them 
for  their  kindness." 

Fauntleroy  gave  a  glance  up  at  him  and  then 
at  his  mother. 

"Must  I?"  he  asked  just  a  trifle  shyly,  and 
she  smiled,  and  so  did  Miss  Herbert,  and  they 
both  nodded.  And  so  he  made  a  little  step  for- 
ward, and  everybody  looked  at  him — such  a 
beautiful,  innocent  little  fellow  he  was,  too,  with 
his  brave,  trustful  face  ! — and  he  spoke  as  loudly 
as  he  could,  his  childish  voice  ringing  out  quite 
clear  and  strong. 

"  I'm  ever  so  much  obliged  to  you  ! "  he  said, 
"  and — I  hope  you'll  enjoy  my  birthday — because 
I've  enjoyed  it  so  much — and — I'm  very  glad  I'm 
going  to  be  an  earl ;  I  didn't  think  at  first  I 
should  like  it,  but  now  I  do  —  and  I  love  this 
place  so,  and  I  think  it  is  beautiful — and — and— 


Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  289 

and  when  I  am  an  earl,  I  am  going  to  try  to  DC 
as  good  as  my  grandfather." 

And  amid  the  shouts  and  clamor  of  applause, 
he  stepped  back  with  a  little  sigh  of  relief,  and 
put  his  hand  into  the  Earl's  and  stood  close  to 
him,  smiling  and  leaning  against  his  side. 

And  that  would  be  the  very  end  of  my  story : 
but  I  must  add  one  curious  piece  of  information, 
which  is  that  Mr.  Hobbs  became  so  fascinated 
with  high  life  and  was  so  reluctant  to  leave  his 
young  friend  that  he  actually  sold  his  corner 
store  in  New  York,  and  settled  in  the  English 
village  of  Erlesboro,  where  he  opened  a  shop 
which  was  patronized  by  the  castle  and  conse- 
quently was  a  great  success.  And  though  he 
and  the  Earl  never  became  very  intimate,  if  you 
will  believe  me,  that  man  Hobbs  became  in  time 
more  aristocratic  than  his  lordship  himself,  and 
he  read  the  Court  news  every  morning,  and  fol- 
lowed all  the  doings  of  the  House  of  Lords  !  And 
about  ten  years  after,  when  Dick,  who  had  fin- 
ished his  education  and  was  going  to  visit  his 
brother  in  California,  asked  the  good  grocer  if 
he  did  not  wish  to  return  to  America,  he  shook 
his  head  seriously. 

"  Not  to  live  there,"  he  said.  "  Not  to  live 
there ;  i  want  to  be  near  him*  an*  sort  o*  look  after 
10 


2 go  Little  jj&rd  Fauntleroy 

'  im.  It's  a  good  enough  country  for  them  that's 
young  an*  stirrin* —  but  there's  faults  in  it. 
There's  not  an  auntsister  among  'em  —  nor  an 
earll" 


THE  END. 


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11/0- 


V  V 


